Who Would Have Thought
by Spicy Scarlet
Summary: What would have happened if Santana went to Dalton for Uptown Girl? What of SHE was the one who met the new boy? Santana has a complicated, tiring home life, especially when her "nemesis", Sebastian Smythe moves in next door. Something goes down after Smooth Criminal, and it resets the course of their relationship forever. (Not as bad as it sounds, I promise!)
1. Uptown Girl

**Disclaimer:** Glee is not mine. Sadly. Otherwise Sebtana would be canon. (And I ship it solely based on their personalities and of course Smooth Criminal, so don't hate.) And Niff (Nick and Jeff 3) would be pulling pranks everywhere. And Finn would sit in a hole the whole time. So, anyways, not mine, Glee belongs to Ryan Murphy. (Except Santana and Sebastian's family members. They're all mine!) Mwa ha ha! Enjoy!

Who Would Have Thought

Santana Maria Diabla Lopez storms through the hallways of William McKinley High School. Everyone instinctively knowing to stay out of her way, especially when she's mad. Even her best friend of 7 years, and girlfriend of 2 months, Brittany S. Pierce knows to let her go. No one can contain Santana when she gets really mad, not even Brittany.

Santana pushes fiercely out the doors and marches into the parking lot. The people scrambling away can practically see the smoke billowing around her.

Santana jumps into her car, and as she pulls out, she thinks about why she is so mad. That Finn Hudson did not know when to shut up. Now, she is carefully devising plans to pay him back. She decides to go find her cousin and his boyfriend, they are practically experts at pranks.

Less than half an hour ago, Santana was practicing for the school musical, West Side Story. She is proud of getting the role of Anita, even if she has to work with Rachel Berry, who she, quite frankly, finds incredibly annoying. The hobbit was already on a rant about how Santana wasn't trying her hardest, and is trying to sabotage "her" musical, when her idiot boyfriend Frankenteen just _had_ to put the icing on the cake and bring up her family, and how they raised her to be a bitch. He just had to, didn't he? He knows nothing about her family.

It's hard enough for her parents to provide enough for her, but they also have to support Santana's _abuela_, and her 5 year old twin brother and sister. That's pretty damn hard for two people. So, Santana does what she can, she's pretty good with her hands, so she works part-time at Burt Hummel's garage, mostly on weekends, but extra if they need a little extra money for a doctor's appointment, a trip, or a holiday thing.

Her mood calms as she approaches the private school, Dalton Academy. She parks in the visitors lot, and checks the time. Her cousin, Jeff Sterling, and his boyfriend, Nick Duval, are still in their glee club, the Warblers, practice, but they know that she'd never spill anything to the New Directions.

Santana waves to the people in the office, she's a frequent enough visitor for the staff to know her, and the boys at the all-boys school to know to stay out of her way when she's pissed.

She expertly navigates the intricately decorated halls, and makes her way to the Warblers' practice room, where she hears them starting up an acapella version of Billy Joel's _Uptown Girl_. She stands in the doorway, and watches Nick lead some boys in a easy dance routine, mouthing along the words to herself.

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees a new Warbler notice her, but she doesn't think much of it until he comes over, his face slightly resembling a meerkat, and takes the lead for a few bars, drawing attention to her. He watches as she waves to Nick, Jeff, and the other Warblers that she knows well, namely Trent, Thad, Flint, Richard (Beatz), David, Ethan, Cameron, and Wes. Yeah, she visits often. He clasps her hand, making her eyebrows raise, and brings her over to the others, where a circle has formed, and boys are taking turns dancing in the middle. She rolls her eyes. _What the hell, why not,_ she thinks, and joins them, taking a turn in the center, dancing amazingly, smirking when the the boys cheer as she takes her spot again.

She backs up, and the boys all move to their positions, and dance in sync, Nick on leads. She smiles a bit as she watches, and rolls her eyes when Nick leads her and the other boys into the hall.

They form a line, and she smiles at Nick as they move down the line, him singing to her. The new guy takes up the melody for a few lines, circling her, and she gives him a thoughtful look. She snickers when Thad takes over for a few lines, and does muscle motions along with the song, until she points for them to go back to their practice room. Most of them race back, but Thad and Nick linger, and Santana playfully shoves Thad into the room, Nick following as to not get one himself.

She sits on the arm of a couch and watches a few more Warblers, namely Meerkat, Flint and Beatz, take turns dancing, then they go back to their in sync dance routine, finishing off with Nick softly singing the last note.

Santana claps, and gets up to hug a few of them, the ones that she's closest with.

"You guys killed it, as always!" she says, hugging Nick, Jeff, Trent, and Thad. Meerkat takes note of this, and mentally files it away.

"So, what brings you here besides me?" Jeff asks teasingly.

"Well, McKinley's putting on _West Side Story_, and Bow-Tie Blaine had the brilliant idea of inviting you dorks." She smirks, and the boys just laugh.

"And how did they get you to be the messenger?" Thad jokes. Santana grins.

"Oh, you know, Frankenteen wouldn't shut up, so no one else was really around to do the task." She says, jokingly examining her fingernails. The boys get her reference, and Jeff put a hand on her shoulder. Meanwhile, the new boy watches, interested.

"Are you in it? The musical?" Trent asks. She nods.

"Anita." The boys offer congratulations, until Meerkat speaks up.

"So, can you sing as well as you dance, then, or are you just the understudy?" The boys all back away as Santana turns to him, smirking evilly.

"Hit it, boys." She struts to the center of the room, the new boy's eyes following her every movement. The other Warblers grin, and start a version of Jennifer Lopez's _Papi_.

They all gather around Santana, who smirks and starts dancing and singing. When she first sings, Meerkat's mouth opens. She's amazing. She dances too, her hips shaking seductively, twirling in and out of the boys. As the song progresses, she takes turns dancing with Jeff, Nick, Cameron, and Thad, who seem to know exactly what to do. She's that good, apparently. Then, Meerkat decides to find out more, and he steps in for a turn, discovering that she's in almost complete control, and he likes that. He does that too, sort of.

Santana closes up the song, and on the last note, she finds herself in a held dip from the new boy. He's not a bad dancer, she'll give him that. She straightens.

"Does that count as 'singing as well as I dance'?" Santana asks, grinning at him, not even out of breath.

"More than counts. I'm Sebastian Smythe," he says, extending a hand to her as the other Warblers start to leave.

"Santana Lopez."

**A/N: OMG. My first story. Hopefully it doesn't suck...**


	2. West Side Story

"So, Jeff was talking about you visiting him. Are you two . . ." He trails off, certain that she'll get his meaning.

"Oh, god no. Jeff is my cousin. You couldn't tell by looking at us though, so I see why you'd be confused." Sebastian nods in understanding. Then, Santana's phone buzzes, and she looks at it.

"I have to go. Meeting Young Burt Reynolds at the Lima Bean," she mutters. "Why did I tell him I'd do that?" she asks herself.

"Young Burt Reynolds?"

"Ah. You might have heard about him from your Borebler buddies, but it's one of the many things I call Blaine Anderson."

"Yeah, I have heard about Blaine a lot. Can I join you?"

"I don't see why not, but you have to take your own car, because I'm not bringing you back here."

"Deal." She marches out of the room, ponytail swinging, and Sebastian smirks, and follows her.

They meet up again in the Lima Bean perking lot, and she goes straight to the counter. She goes up to the barista, and then smiles at her, and greets her. The barista smiles back and they talk for a minute before Santana places her order.

"What do you want?" she asks him. Sebastian tells her, and then pays for both of them. Santana's eyebrows raise, and before she can speak, a jovial male voice interrupts her.

"Santana! Que tal?" She turns back to the counter, where a Latino man is coming out from the back room.

"Hola, Javier. No mucho. Solo conseguir cafe. Y tu?"

"No mucho." He goes on to ask her about Sebastian, since he saw him buy her the coffee that his coworker is currently making. She explains, in rapid-fire Spanish, that they just met, he wanted to meet Blaine, and how she's 75% sure that he's gay. Her gaydar is awesome, and he knows it, so he leaves it at that. Their drinks are ready, so they grab them, and sit down at a table where Blaine is sure not to miss them.

"You speak Spanish?" Sebastian asks, intrigued by the girl in front of him. For most of his life, he's known that he's gay, but he isn't one to deny a beautiful view when he comes across it, be it a guy, or a girl.

"Yeah, my family is from Puerto Rico," she says absentmindedly. "Do you know it?" Sebastian shakes his head.

"Yeah, no. Not a word. Is that Blaine?" Surprised by the sudden subject change, and the dream-like tone Sebastian's voice took on, Santana's head jerks up. She sees a mass of over-gelled hair, and she nods.

"Yeah, that's him. Wonder Twin! Over here!" The boy grabs his coffee, hears her, and smiles, ignoring the nickname.

"Hey Satan." Sebastian raises his eyebrows at the nickname for Santana. "Who's this?"

"Go on, Meerkat. Introduce yourself," Santana says when Sebastian doesn't answer, and Blaine chuckles.

"I see you've gotten a nickname. Sorry about that, they're kinda a part of her, me, I have tons. What's your name?" Santana opens her mouth. "And not one you assigned him, Satan. Give him a chance to speak." Sebastian was frankly enjoying watching this play out, but he holds out his hand for Blaine to shake.

"Sebastian Smythe."

"Twink," Santana fake-coughs into the crook of her elbow, making Blaine chuckle.

"Blaine Anderson."

"The Warblers talk about you a lot."

"Glad to see I'm still remembered." Santana rolls her eyes. Even after a few sentences, she can tell that this new guy is completely head-over-heels for the bow-tie wearing ex-Warbler.

"Let's see, how did they put it?" Sebastian muses to himself. "Well, anyways, I was like, I don't know who this Blaine guy is, but apparently he's sex on a stick, and sings like a dream." Blaine flushes, and Santana leans back, marveling at how stupid Blaine's being, and the sly flirting Sebastian is doing. It's not that discreet, but it's enough to fool Blaine. The idiot. She'll interrupt when the time is right, though.

"So, why'd you leave Dalton? Bored with all the preppies there? Or was it that you broke too many hearts to stay?" Santana couldn't help but snort at the question. Blaine? Breaking hearts? Please. Sebastian raises an eyebrow at Santana's laughter, and Blaine slouches deeper into his chair.

"Let's just say, I miss Dalton every day, but McKinley is where my heart is now." Santana nods her head at Blaine's response, and the conversations turns to her.

"So, Santana?" She looks at Sebastian to let him know that she's listening. "What do you do at McKinley with that singing talent?"

"I assume you know Pretty Pony here can sing, we're both in glee club at McKinley," she said after taking a sip of her coffee. Sebastian raised an eyebrow.

"There's a glee club at your school?"

"Yeah, we're in the New Directions. There was a girl group earlier this year, but it disbanded due to number of members. We are separating for fun tomorrow, and doing a little competition before Sectionals, if you want to come and watch." Santana could see Sebastian's eyes light up at the suggestion.

"Sure. That would be great. Was the girl group bad?"

"Of course not. We were awesome. We proved it to those dorks during that dodgeball tournament, and to T-Rex when he watched us crush that Christina Aguilera song," Santana told them.

"Which song?" Sebastian inquired.

"Candyman."

"Really?" She nodded, and he leaned back, impressed.

"That dodgeball game was something though," Blaine said. Santana shrugged.

"Meh. I've done better."

Are you kidding?! You were an animal! You hit basically everybody without getting hit yourself!" Santana shrugged again and smirked as Sebastian watched in slight awe. Then, Blaine stands. "Well, Santana and I have to get going. Musical practice."

"Again?" Santana whined as Blaine pulled her out of her seat. Blaine nods. "Hobbit?" Santana asks. He nods again. "Great," she mutters. Sebastian grins and stands as well.

"Would it be ok if I dropped in? Just for a bit? I'd love to hear you sing, Blaine. You too, Santana."

"S-sure. Yeah, of-of course," Blaine stutters. Santana rolls her eyes and marches out the door, waving to Javier, Sebastian and Blaine hot on her heels.

The three regroup in the McKinley parking lot, and Santana leads them to the auditorium, where Sebastian goes up to sit in the audience while Santana and Blaine join Artie Abrams, Ms. Emma Pillsbury, Coach Shannon Beiste, and Rachel Berry on the stage.

"You're late!" Rachel shrieks. "This needs to be 100% perfect, or I'll never get into NYADA and-"

"Is that all that this is for you, Dwarf? Just a means to an end? Well, guess what? We care about the show, and not about your college plans, so shut your mouth, and let's get going, if you're so eager to start rehearsals." Rachel turns red, and storms offstage to get her costume on after Santana effectively shut her up. Santana follows, smirking, also to put on her dress, and Blaine glances at Sebastian, who's looking amused at Santana's antics. Oh boy. This could be trouble, Blaine thought. If he's into that, and gets with Señora Satan, since I saw him eyeing her, we might all end up dead.

Then, the auditorium door open, and a bunch more teens come in, laughing and talking. Blaine smiles, forgets that thought, and goes over to them.

"Hey Quinn, Brittany, Mike, Titans, hey."

"Hey Blainey!" Brittany chirps.

"Hey," Quinn says. The football players echo the 'hey', and Artie instructs them all to get in position for this dance part. Mike is in front, and Blaine is next to him, along with some of the more agile football players.

Sebastian watches as they rehearse, still waiting to hear someone sing. Then, the large woman, assumably Coach Beiste, ushers everybody to the first few rows of seats while the crew places a few props onstage. Then, Sebastian hears arguing from the wings.

"It doesn't take that long to put on a dress and makeup!" Rachel was yelling, marching out onstage in a fluffy pink dress that made Sebastian flinch. Yikes.

"Looking this amazing takes a little time, darling," Santana said, the last word dripping with sarcasm. "And you might want to think about taking more time, since your makeup looks like it was applied at a shit-hole circus!" Rachel turns red again, and Ms. Pillsbury clapped to get everyone's attention.

"Santana! Rachel. Are you girls ready?"

"Sure am," Santana said, emerging from the wings. Sebastian's jaw dropped. If this wasn't the final costume, he couldn't wait to see it at the actual thing. Her hair was shiny and loose around her shoulders, she had on a gorgeous red dress, and just had on red lipstick.

Santana rolled her eyes, and joined Berry at the center of the stage. She noted all the dropped jaws from the football players in the audience. She knows she looks smoking hot.

"Ok, ladies. Boy Like That/I Have a Love? Go whenever you're ready."

Rachel sits down, and Santana stands over her, and waits for the dramatic music to start. She waits for her cue, and then lets her soulful, smoky voice fill the room.

Sebastian's eyebrows shoot up when she first sings. She's amazing, even better than that Jennifer Lopez song she sang earlier. He notices Blaine looking at him with a what do you think? look, and Sebastian nods appreciatively. Then, Rachel starts to sing, and Sebastian finds himself less interested. They wrap up the song, and everyone claps. The others go back on the stage, and Santana and Rachel watch them as they go over the choreography again. When a bulky teen in the back and a few other guys mess up, they start whining, and Santana stands.

"Oh, come on Azimio. Seriously? It's not that hard."

"Yeah? You want to try it then?" the guy challenges. She smirks, and takes his spot. The music starts up again, and she does it flawlessly, perfectly in sync with the rest of the group, despite her dress and heels. His mouth drops open.

"Not that hard. You should try the dance for America. Now that's more of a challenge. You should be more careful about those challenges from now on, though," Santana says smirking. Then, she and Rachel go backstage to put their normal clothes on, and Sebastian swears that he hears more bickering. Probably Santana roasting Rachel again. That Santana, she's something, he thinks. The practice wraps up, so he escorts himself out and to his car. As he drives back to Westerville, he thinks about Santana, and how to get to her. . .

As Santana changes back into her Cheerios uniform, she thinks about the past rehearsal. She's a born dancer, her Abuela danced during high school and college before she decided on a more practical profession, but even then, she signed Santana up for as many dance classes as she could. Jazz, tap, hip-hop, tango and salsa (of course), and ballet. By the time she was a freshman, you could name a dance, and Santana could do it flawlessly. Santana loved it too, but as she got older, and once the twins were born, she didn't do as many professionally, but she still practiced as much as she could.

Santana goes out to the parking lot with Mike Chang, talking a mile a minute about the choreography, which they were mostly in charge of for the musical. She waves to the asian dancer as she goes over to her car. Well, her Mami's car.

Today, her Mami and Papi are carpooling, so she gets the car. Normally, she rides a motorcycle that she scavenged from the garage that she works at, and the junkyard. She knows the manager from childhood, so she got it all for free. She knows the bike completely, every gear and sprocket, she was the one who fixed it, under guidance from Burt Hummel. Sometimes, though, the car is better. Especially when it's raining.

She pulls out, and takes the shortcut to Lima Heights. Her best friend, Noah Puckerman, or Puck, also lives in Lima Heights, and often, she carpools with him.

She pulls up the the gray house, and parks the car. As she is getting out, she notices that there's a For Sale sign dug into the yard. There's also a 'Sold' badge across the top. Santana frowns. She knows the elderly couple that lives, well, lived there, so she is sad to see them going. They were great babysitters for the twins when Santana is busy. She's basically always busy.

Santana's daily schedule goes somewhat like this: Wake up, get ready, help the twins get ready, make breakfast, go to school, Cheerios practice, school, lunch, more school, Glee Club, go home, do homework, tutor the twins, since their first language is Spanish, cook dinner, then either do dishes, or more often, get the twins to bed, and go to bed. Pretty full schedule.

Santana's Papi likes to say that when the twins were born, Santana was the only one that could get them to sleep. It could quite possibly be true, the twins adore Santana, and she loves them back. They get most of her love, along with her Mami, Papi, and Brittany. For some reason, the twins don't like Brittany that much. They are perfectly ok with Santana being a lesbian, but they keep saying, "she's not right". Whatever that means.

Santana sees Papi's car in the driveway, so she knocks on the door, and a smiling, dark-brown-haired, blue eyed little girl opens the door.

"Tana! Estas en casa!"

"Hola, Andie! Que tal?" Santana says, picking up the little girl easily, and hugging her, bringing her inside, closing the door behind her. She smiles, and tosses the giggling girl onto the worn leather couch. Santana drops her backpack and is about to move in for the kill when a weight is suddenly added to her back.

"Ack! Mateo! Ayudame, Andrea! Por favor?!" Santana cries, but the girl shakes her head, and then, the other twin pops off from her back. Mateo has the same dark hair that runs in the Lopez family, and, along with Andrea, their Mami's blue eyes. Santana instead, has their Papi's dark eyes. She looks like their Papi as a female.

Santana fall onto the couch, bouncing the giggling twins into the air a bit, and when they land, they immediately climb onto Santana.

"Andrea! Mateo! Dejala respirar!"

"Mami!" Andrea whined. She was silenced with a look, and both of them sheepishly got off of Santana.

"Mami! Gracias. Como esta tu dia?" The Lopez family speaks Spanish at home, even though they can speak English. It's their Native Language, both parents are originally from Mexico. Maribel's mother was from elsewhere, but moved to Mexico where he met Santana's grandmother. Maribel and Santiago Lopez's first language is also Spanish, but they are trying to learn English better by speaking it at home.

"Ah, bien, bien. Exhausting."

"What happened to Mr. and Mrs. Callum? I saw the 'For Sale' sign."

"Oh, well, Mr. Callum's sister's husband died, and they're moving to live with her."

"Oh no! Lo siento. I hope she's alright."

"Yes, me too." Andrea starts pulling at Santana's leg, so she picks up the hyper 5-year old, and turns back to continue talking.

"Should I start on dinner?"

"Yes, do that. Do you have any homework?" Santana shakes her head.

"Should I tell Abuela that dinner will be ready in 20 minutes, or do you want to?" Maribel nods for Santana to go ahead, and Santana goes off down the hall, to the guest room, where her abuela lives.

Santana's relationship with her Abuela is difficult. Alma Lopez does not approve of Santana being a lesbian, but before the 'coming out of the closet' thing, she was very close with Santana. She still feels motherly instincts towards her eldest granddaughter, but due to her nature, and the stubbornness gene in the family, she tries to quell them.

Santana wishes that her abuela loved as much as she used to, but she goes over, and kocks on the wall.

"Abuela?" A grunt tells Santana that Alma's there and has acknowledged her presence. "Dinner will be ready in about 20 minutes."

"Gracias."

"De nada." Santana turns around and exhales. That didn't go horribly. Sometimes talking to Abuela was really hard. She brought Andrea, still clinging tightly to her, to the kitchen, and sat her on a counter, and grabbed a pan, and started assembling dinner.

Santana's pretty good in the kitchen, mostly due to years of practice. She starts making tamales, since they're easy, and she knows that the twins love them. After the estimated 20 minutes, they're done, and Santana asks Mateo to call everyone to the table. Everyone appears seconds later with dreamy smiles on their faces from the aroma in the room. Santana smiles, and takes her seat next to Mateo and Santiago Lopez, her papi, whos at the head, and across from Andie, whos next to Alma Lopez, Maribel seated at the other head.

After a few Spanish murmurings of thanks, the family digs in, and sighs of delight are heard, making Santana internally grin. Soon, it's all gone, and Santana gets up with Santiago to clear the table and do the dishes. After that's done, she takes the twins upstairs, and helps them get to bed, tucking them in, and kissing their foreheads goodnight.

"Can you sing to us, Tana?" Mateo asks. Santana smiles at the little boy and nods.

"What should I sing?"

"Can you do the flying song?" Santana smiles, nods, and starts to sing. Both kids sit up a bit to watch their older sister sing.

[Santana]

Grew up in a small town

And when the rain would fall down

I'd just stare out my window

Dreaming of what could be

And if I'd end up happy

I would pray (I would pray)

Santana smiles at the lyrics, and smoothly glides into the chorus, and both the twins smile. After the chorus, Santana gets up, and tuck them in again, and they lie down, closing their eyes. By the time Santana finishes the song, they're both sound asleep. Santana smiles softly, and goes out to the hallway.

"Mami! Papi! Buenas noches!" She says loudly to the stairs, hoping they'll hear her without waking the twins up.

"Buenas noches, querida! Que duermas bien!" her Papi calls back. She smiles, and goes into her room, closing the door firmly behind her. She sighs, and walks fully into her small room. The room has two white, and two black walls. In the room, there's a bed, desk, a few bookshelves, and a closet attached to the wall. She sighs and sits at the desk next to the window. Through it, she has a perfect view of a bedroom in the Callum's old house.

**A/N: Hope this is fixed. please comment and review! Thank you to those who did!**


	3. Scandals

Santana gets to thinking about what will happen once somebody buys the house. Will she have to buy curtains, since she doesn't have any currently? Will it be someone she knows? Will they renovate it, or keep it how it is? Will they have any kids? Santana likes working with kids. She sighs and flops onto the bed, dismissing the thoughts. She checks the clock, and it's 8:00.

This is when she gets down time, normally. Her parents trust her, and are very relaxed when it comes to what she does, so often, this is when she leaves the house, and goes elsewhere. Lima Bean, movies, restaurants, mall, clubs, friends' houses, other places. She's become a master at seeing in the dark, and navigating her way around Lima, especially at night.

Santana changes out of her Cheerios uniform into skinny jeans, a sheer t shirt, leather jacket, and Adidas sneakers she bought last summer, and heads out into the hall. SHe hears her parents conversing heatedly, but they stop once she speaks, alerting them to her presence.

"Mami? Papi? I'm going out."

"Ok. Don't stay up too late."

"I won't." Santana grabs her bag and helmet, and goes out to her bike. She brings it to the street, and rides off, the bike specifically made to be silent. She rides quickly to Scandals', she has her fake ID ready, since she's not technically of age, but everyone does it. She checks her jacket, and heads into the crowded bar.

Sebastian sits at the bar at Scandals, his eyes scanning the dance floor, his hand clutching an almost empty beer bottle. His eye occasionally lingers on dancing males, but soon, his gaze moves away. He can't find anyone interesting tonight. And just when he had been having a good day. He had come up with a brilliant plan that he couldn't wait to put into action. Then, he sees someone.

He watches in amazement as a raven-haired girl comes in, flaunting an extremely sheer top, no less, and struts straight to the center of the dance floor. His eyes pop as the song starts. That girl just straight up took over the dance floor. All eyes are on her, including his own. Even in casual wear for a club, he thinks she is gorgeous, probably the best-looking girl he's seen at Scandals in forever. As the music pumps, he stares as she dances, smoothly, sexily, seductively, with anyone who dares to get close enough, girls or guys. Not to be outdone, he gulps the last of his drink, and gets off the stool, sliding easily through the crowd.

Santana can feel all eyes on her. Just the way she likes it. She dances with everybody, anybody who comes close enough to her aura of seductivity. She cocks her head to the music a bit, listening closely for the song, and her eyes light up when she hears the song. _The Way You Make Me Feel_, by Michael Jackson. Perfect. She takes the hand of a guy watching her intently, and his face lights up when she pulls him in to dance. She mastered the bump and grind years ago. This is child's play.

After a few minutes, she trades him in for a green-eyed brunette with slim features and curvy body. The girl looks delighted, and Santana smirks. When she's about to take another partner, a hand grabs her wrist from behind her, and pulls her away, making the other brunette frown. Santana just goes with it, must be another guy that wants her. She's used to that here. But when she looks at the person, and starts dancing, her eyebrows shoot up, in confusion, then amusement. She knows this guy.

"Meerkat?"

Once the girl says that, something in Sebastian's brain clicks. This is the girl from Dalton, this is Santana! This is the same girl he's been thinking about for the past few hours. She sees the look of recognition on his face and grins. She then spins, so her back is facing him, and his hands latch onto her hips. They are in the center of the room, and both of them can tell everyone wishes that they were them. Gay or straight, girl or guy. The life of the party.

Sebastian listens to the lyrics of the song playing as he dances with Santana, and smirks to himself when the lyrics are familiar to his situation. Sort of. It also has a really good dance beat.

They dance until the song ends, and everyone applauds, and clears a path for them to the bar, where they take seats next to each other. The guy from earlier slides in next to Santana, and offers to buy her a drink. She smiles sweetly, clearly fake.

"Oh, that would be _amazing_. Thank you." He beams, and soon, she has a martini in her hands, fiddling with the base, while the guy is telling her all about his dance classes, and how amazing she was. Sebastian watches her with interest. Very feisty. She definitely knows what she's doing. Sly. Deceitful. Like him. She reaches up, and starts playing with the ends of her hair, clearly not listening anymore.

"Thank you so much, for the drink and lovely conversation, but you don't have to stay here for just me. Go dance, you seem to have such wonderful classes, and I'll join in a bit. Maybe save me a dance?" She winks at him, and he lights up, and scurries off, Santana chuckling quietly. Yep, she knows how to get just about anyone in here wrapped around her little finger. She turns to the other boy next to her, who she knew was not-so-subtly eavesdropping.

"Learn much?" she asks him. He straightens, and grins at her.

"Nah. mostly boring stuff, anyways."

"You got that right." Santana takes a sip from her drink. "You hang around here often, Twink?" He shrugs.

"Sort of. I came today to get my mind off of someone, though." Her eyebrows raise. He smirks inside. His plan is being put into action.

"Oh, got the hots for someone?"

"Not exactly. Just . . . intrigued."

"So, who is this mystery person? Do I know him?"

"How do you figure it's a him?"

"Honestly, it wasn't hard to figure out that you're bi-sexual. You were giving Bow Tie googly eyes at the Lima Bean, and a few minutes ago, you couldn't keep your eyes off of my smoking hot body."

"Fair enough. And it is a him. Blaine, actually." She snickers.

"You know he is as sexy as his dorky bow ties, right?" Sebastian nods.

"I guess that may be true, but he's . . . something." She snickers again.

"Sure is. But, sucks for you, he has a boyfriend, and they're practically old marrieds already." At this, Sebastian's eyebrows raise.

"He does?"

"Yeah. Lady Hummel. Or Kurt Hummel, to boring people." He chuckles at her nicknames.

"We'll see." She looks at him strangely. She doesn't like that look in his eye. It's one she's very familiar with. It the look of someone who's planning something. He'd better not be planning to break up those guys. Those two can be annoying, yes, but they're some of the most supportive people about her sexuality in glee. And, they're destined for each other. Everyone knows that. Plus, she has a running bet with Puck on who will break up first, Klaine, or Samcedes. Those two like to try and keep it secret, but everyone knows that they're dating. Her bet is on Samcedes, though. Klaine is much stronger than whatever summer fling Mercedes and Sam had.

Santana looks at the digital clock on the wall. 9:45. Not bad. She still has time for a few more dances before she has to get home. She sucks attractively on the olives at the bottom her drink, and stands.

"Well, I'm gonna head back to the dance floor. Enjoy your drink," she says, winking at him before sliding out of her seat, and walking back out onto the floor, her hips swaying with each step.

Sebastian looks after her for a second, then turns back to his drink, frowning. He didn't think it worked. Maybe he'll just have to keep up the act for a bit longer than. At least it's clear that he's bi, though. Normally he doesn't go for girls, and tends to stick to guys, but she doesn't need to know that. So, he turns back to the dance floor, and watches, his eyes never leaving the Latina in the center of the room.

Santana finds herself in the middle of the room again, working the party, and back with that guy from earlier. She dances with him for a bit, then takes a turn with a muscular guy off to the side that was eyeing her. He tried to look tough and surly when she pretend-playfully pulled him out on the dance floor, but she could see in his eyes that he was grateful, and excited. _He isn't a bad dancer, a bit bulky, and not too graceful,_ Santana thinks as he spins her around. She gives him a flirty wave, and turns to the girl she landed next to , who looked ecstatic for someone like her to be dancing with someone like Santana.

Santana knows exactly how to work this crowd. Small, flirtatious gestures; seductive, sexy dancing; innocent but guilty smiles; bits of flattery. Though it's all fun and games. No real feelings or anything. That's what makes it fun. Not having to worry about seeing any of these people again.

After what seems like a few more songs, she glances up at the clock again, and thinks that it's time to head home so her parents won't scold her for staying up to late on a school night. She makes her way towards the door, after saying goodbye to the girl she was dancing with, grabbing her jacket and bag, and heading out to the parking lot.

"Hey, Lopez!" She turns around to see Sebastian calling after her.

"Yes, Twink?"

"Could you give me Blaine's number? I know you have it." Right. She had let it slide that she and Blaine had each other's numbers.

"You'll have to ask him yourself," she says with a wink, and slides smoothly onto her bike.

"Nice ride," Sebastian says, coming up to her. "What model?"

"I think it's an old Harley, fixed up with parts from a zillion others," Santana says nonchalantly, thinking of all her junkyard trips.

"Where'd you get it? I didn't think you could get that anywhere."

"Junkyard, mostly. I fixed it myself, so can't really answer your question. See you, Twink."

"Huh. J-Lo can fix motorcycles. Who knew?" he says, smirking.

_Oh, so he's finally taken the liberty to give me a nickname for all of the ones I gave him. That took a while. Most of the other glee clubbers just call me Satan,_ Santana thinks. _Not a bad nickname, though. Jennifer Lopez is awesome_.

"See you around, Lopez." Santana smirks at him, and he matches it, and then she pulls away, veering towards her home.

Sebastian smiles after her, impressed by her skill set. Then, he climbs into his Lexus and sets off to his own house.

When Sebastian arrives at his house, he sighs. Since his dad is rarely home, his mom didn't want the huge house, and frankly, neither did Sebastian, so they're all moving, somewhere between a week or so. They already have bought the house, it's in Lima, Lima Heights, specifically, but still close to Dalton, so it'll still work for school. Now, they just need to move in. Maybe this weekend. Their house is filled with boxes right now. He parks his car next to his mom's, and climbs out, unlocking the door, and closing it firmly behind him.

"Mom! I'm back!" he calls, and then goes up the grand staircase and turns a few corners, arriving at his bedroom suite. He flops on the bed, and thinks about his plan . . .

Santana arrives at her house fairly quickly, and parks her bike. She then goes in through the back door, and quietly climbs up the stairs and into her room, tossing her jacket on her chair, her bag on her desk, and face-planting on her bed. That was a fun night. Lots of dancing, free martini, meaningless flirting . . . what could be better? She sighs to herself, quickly changes into a tank top and shorts, and lies down, falling asleep quickly.

In the morning, she has school today, so she gets up quickly, tugging on her Cheerios uniform and sneakers, putting her hair in the infamous ponytail, and dashes across the hall to her the twins up and ready. She wakes them, and as they get dressed, she goes quietly downstairs to the kitchen. She stops outside when she hears arguing.

"No, we aren't doing that!"

"But it's useless for her, and just wastes time!" Her mother rarely raises her voice. Santana frowns and listens again.

"But she loves it! It makes her happy! We are not taking that away from her!" Her father argued, his voice rising as well. Santana knows that they're talking about her. She doesn't know why, but she has a bad feeling about this. So, she straightens, pretends she didn't hear anything, and walks in, cutting off whatever her mother was going to say in return.

"_Hola, _Mami. Papi. _Como estas?"_ They both look relieved that she hadn't overheard, and resume casual talk with Santana, even though she can see it's strained.

"_Bien, mija._ Did you wake up the twins?" Just as she says this, they come bounding into the kitchen, and Maribel smiles, though it seems forced. Everyone bustles around, Santana getting three bowl of cereal for her and the kids while their parents make themselves breakfast.

They all finish quickly, say _adios_ to their Abuela, and then Maribel herds them out the door, the twins into the car, and Santana waves as she gets into another car, a dark Hyundai, the driver sporting a letterman jacket and a mohawk.

"'Sup, brosita?" Puck asks.

"Just the usual, Puck," Santana says as she buckles, and they drive off towards McKinley.

"Twins just as troublesome as ever?" Santana nods.

"I can't wait for the Mash-Off today. We're going to crush you."

"You wish, Satan. Our song is awesome."

"We'll see about that."

"So, what'd you do last night? I texted you about going to the Lima Bean tonight, but you never replied, which means you were out." Santana smiles at her best friend.

"I went to Scandals. Little dancing. A guy bought me a drink. And that sounds great."

"Man! I wish I could have been there to see that. Tell me the next time you go. I bet you owned that floor! But, Lima Bean? 8:15?"

"Of course. Duh. That sounds great."  
"How's musical stuff going? Sharks have practice today for _America_, right?" Santana shakes her head as Puck pulls into the McKinley parking lot.

"Nope. It was cancelled for the Mash-Off. But I still have Cheerios practice."

"Yeesh. Sorry 'bout that."

Puck has an unofficial reserved spot, as does Santana, as the two top bad-asses at McKinley. In their freshman year, both knew each other from Lima Heights, and were already BFF's, so they "dated" to climb the popularity ladder. It worked, and now they're renowned as the top bitch and head bastard at McKinley.

The two have been best friends since they went to the same preschool, they were assigned seats next to each other, and a boy at their table picked on Santana for being Latina, and Puck for being part Jewish. They put him in his place together, and they were inseparable until middle school, where they learned that this world is eat or get eaten. So, they worked together to get to the top of the food chain, but Puck hung with the boys more, and Santana with the girls. That's when she met Brittany and Quinn. The two still were as tight as you can get, meeting up after school, and on the weekends. They were both each other's first times, and whenever the other needed anything, or something went wrong for one (They live in Lima Heights Adjacent, bad things are bound to happen), the other helped them up, clean off, and clean up rumors. They are basically bonded for life.

They get out, grab their bags, and go into the hall, where the people in the packed hallway part for them. Santana smirks, and struts down the hall. She owned this place as a freshman, even more so now as a senior. No one even dares to cross her. As a freshman, seniors were always challenging her, but she put them in their place, no problem. Same thing with Puck.

They reach their lockers, conveniently next to each other's, and grab their stuff for their first periods, Puck for Math, and Santana with History. Both get bored in class easily, Puck because he doesn't like school, and Santana because she knows almost everything already, so they agree to do a daily 'make the other person laugh first' text challenge. Also, both have top street smarts. The two together is a recipe for disaster or awesomeness, depending on their moods. Normally, it's both. They both know that they will never date, but sometimes do 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend' duties, since both are single. Well, Santana has Brittany, but often she's busy or doesn't understand how to help.

They are very different though. Puck is definitely the classic "bad boy", he steals occasionally, he pulls tons of pranks, he's been to juvie once or twice, and he plays guitar. His dad left him at a young age, so it's just him and his mom. But, his mom is a pharmacist, so they are fairly rich. Santana is more of the witty one. She relies on insults and sometimes going all 'Lima Heights' to defend herself and it works, she is very sarcastic, has a very sharp tongue, and plays acoustic and electric guitar (she got lessons from Puck) and piano. Her family is large, and doesn't have tons of money. They have enough to get by, but they have to be extremely conservative, and she does work for her own spending money.

She winks at Puck as a goodbye, and struts to her first class, her mind already spinning with what to text Puck to make him laugh.

Sebastian wakes up early, and drives quickly to Dalton. He has a dorm at school, but normally lives at home, the beds are nicer at home, plus, he can do whatever without people coming to check in on him, or complaining. He parks his Lexus, and hops out, heading into school. He's still fairly new to Dalton, but he has another plan, this one to dominate the Warblers, and take his rightful place as the alpha-male at Dalton. He rises slowly but steadily up the ladder by being snarky, cocky, and confident. He goes to his first class, his mind somewhere other than algebra. Santana Lopez.

He's seen her dance, she's a natural, and knows her stuff. If he can get access to that, and present those ideas and moves to the council, he'd soon become the de-facto leader. No question. Plus, getting "closer" with Santana would mean access to her smoking body, and wasn't going to complain about that either. A welcome bonus. But how to get to her.

She didn't seem like the jealous type, she didn't react when he faked interest in Blaine. He decides to play it a bit longer, just to see if it works, but he figures that just being himself (a cocky, sarcastic bastard, as he's heard from several people) will probably work best, since she's very much like him in that sense. _Her tongue is probably a bit sharper than mine, though,_ he thinks as he slides into his seat, pretending to be taking notes. _But no one can match up to my insults._

He's sure of this as he goes through his classes, but he's so wrong. This is Santana Lopez we're talking about. He remembers that the McKinley practice competition is today. He's definitely up for some spying on the enemy, and he can keep working to Blaine, and with that, Lopez. Then, he overhears Jeff, Nick and Trent talking about the Mash-Off, or whatever the McKinley dweebs are calling it.

"Hey guys. You know about that?"

"Yeah, Santana told me about it. She said that everyone would be okay if we came, so the Warblers are going after school," Jeff says.

"Yeah, she invited me too." Sebastian smirks to himself. Perfect cover.

"Awesome. We're going to McKinley instead of Warbler practice, so see you then," Nick says.

"Sure. See you," Sebastian says, splitting off from the boys, and heading into his next class, a sly smirk plastered on his face.

**A/N: I hope this worked.**


	4. Mash-Off

The final bell rings, and Santana, Brittany, Mike, and Puck, who have the same last class, dash out the door, heading straight for the choir room. They arrive, along with everyone else, and the Troubletones split off, meeting their Cheerio backup dancers, and going to change into their costumes. The New Directions do the same, and meet with Mr. Schue and Shelby Corcoran, the former Troubletones coach, in the auditorium. They all go backstage, wishing each other luck, and the Warblers file in, along with Ms. Pillsbury, Coach Beiste, a bunch of random students, Jacob Ben Israel and his camera crew, and the football players, who were required to come, to take notes for the musical.

"Welcome everyone, to our Troubletones v.s New Directions Mash-Off!" Mr. Schue says excitedly. Everyone cheers, and Shelby steps forwards with a smile.

"So, the rules are simple here. Each group picked two songs, mashed them together, and will perform, with costumes, and choreography. This trophy," she says, gesturing to a gold trophy Mr. Schue is holding. "Is awarded to the winner, the best overall. Now, we, as the coaches, do not get to judge. We would love three people in the audience to be our Mash-Off judges. Maybe, a Titan, a staff member, and a Warbler?" Shelby suggests. Sebastian smirks. Oh, this'll be fun.

Eventually, Coach Beiste is nominated as the staff judge, a bulky guy named Anthony Prashad as the Titan judge, and Sebastian as the Warbler judge.

"Fantastic. Now, let the show begin!" Mr. Schue says. Then, he and Shelby go into the audience and sit down, and the stage turns dark.

Then, upbeat, electric piano music starts, and lights come on, showing Finn at center stage, starting to sing a mashup of _I Can't Go For That,_ and _You Make My Dreams_. Santana is at first shocked at their song, lead, and costume choice, but they are pretty good, Tina and Rory's vocals are good, and their choreography is not bad.

Sebastian is not impressed. He is good at finding faults in almost everything. Their costumes are dorky, the songs are meh, and the choreography is a little iffy, and kinda cheesy. This is what he has to take down at Regionals? Really? He's really hoping that the Troubletones will be better, since the fake mustaches are creeping him out. As it progresses, it's not bad, he supposes, and everyone else is smiling. Maybe that's their goal? To make the audience smile? These dorks are nuts. He is relieved when they take off their fake mustaches, and are dancing and singing in a line at the front of the stage. He's mildly impressed when the blonde takes over the vocals, her voice is much better than that Finn guys', and when the three girls take center stage with cutesy dancing, and much smoother vocals, he's relieved.

They wrap up the song, and Santana is impressed with Tina and Quinn's vocals, Finns', not so much. The girls costumes are much better than the guys', and their songs were not bad, but she is sure that the Troubletones are going to win this. It's a shame that they disbanded. This competition is all fun though, so when they finish, the Troubletones go up and congratulate them, and then take the stage, letting the lights go off as the New Directions take their seats.

A pounding beat starts, and the lights come on with the music. Sebastian recognizes it instantly, Adele's _Rumor Has It_, and he's already thinking that these girls have better song choice. They are dressed in short black dresses, and he smirks appreciatively when he notices Santana's outfit, and how well it compliments her body. Not bad at all.

They start singing, and dancing, and their choreography is simple so far, but elegant and sassy at the same time. A dark-skinned girl Sebastian heard called Mercedes starts them off, and after the first verse of the Adele song, the stage darkens again, and they go silent. Drama factor. Nice.

Mercedes starts up again, lights blaring on, and everyone looks on, impressed and intrigued, including Sebastian. He's still waiting for Santana to sing though. The girls dance smoothly and move around stage, and finally, the second song comes into play. Along with Santana.

She sings the bridge to another Adele song, _Someone Like You_, her soulful, slightly raspy voice complimenting the song well, and then goes into the opening verse of the song, the other girls dancing around her. She joins them for a second, then takes center stage, them rejoins them merging back into _Rumor Has It._ Santana belts out the bridge again, better than the last, and Sebastian's eyebrows raise. This girl is _good_.

They all transition to the chorus of _Someone Like You_, their choreography flawless, and semi-simple, and in sync, but interesting, and complicated-looking at the same time. Now these girls actually could be a threat. Then at the end of the song, the music fades, and Mercedes steps forwards, and sings, more to the normal tune of the song, a few classic lines from _Someone Like You_. Santana steps up with her, and repeats the lines, closing off the song with her beautiful vocals.

The lights fade out, and everyone jumps up and applauds, including all three judges. The girls take their bows, and jump off stage. Sebastian notices Santana tightly hugging a blonde girl that was performing with her. He's wondering what that's about when Anthony clears his throat next to him. Sebastian gets up and follows him to the back of the auditorium, where the large woman, who he's assuming is Coach Beiste, is waiting. They all agree on the winner quickly, it's unanimous, and the coach goes down, and whispers to the choir coaches who the winning group is. Sebastian takes his seat with a smug look on his face, and both groups go up onstage.

"And, with a unanimous vote, the winner of the McKinley High Third Annual Mash-Off is . . . the Troubletones!" Everyone cheers, including the New Directions, and Mercedes goes up and dramatically accepts the trophy, making everyone giggle. People start filing out, and Santana can hear the football players sounding actually impressed. Ha. In your faces. She goes over to the Warblers seats once everyone else leaves, and hugs Jeff, Nick, and a few others, all of them congratulating her on the performance.

"Not bad, J-Lo," Sebastian says, standing to face her. She is unfazed by the comment, and quirks an eyebrow.

"Thanks, Twink. Unanimous vote, eh? I would have thought you would have voted for the New Directions," she says, smirking. Sebastian understands instantly that she means Blaine. So she's going to tease him about that? Hmm, maybe that won't work as well as he's hoping.

"Well, your football coach made me take an honesty vow, so I couldn't as well vote for them, now could I?" She smirks at him, and shrugs.

"Fair enough. See y'all later," she says, addressing the Warblers. They all wave after her, and she struts down to the stage and into the wings to change out of her costume. The rest of the Warblers leave, besides Sebastian, and he moves down closer to the stage. She comes back minutes later in her Cheerios uniform, and when she bends over to grab her bag, he whistles. She straightens, and smirks at him, giving him a little twirl, making her skirt fly up, to tease him a bit. He smirks, enjoying the view. Then, she struts out of the room, and he follows her into the gym, where she sets her bag down, and yells a the other girls in matching uniforms to start warming up.

Sebastian sits on the bleaches, not opposed to watching cheerleading practice, those skirts are definitely not bad, and then he sees the blonde from earlier, the one that was hugging Santana, go up to her. To Sebastian, it seems like she's in bitch-mode, so that's probably not a good idea, but as he watches the two interact, he's surprised, because she just hugs her, and when the blonde kisses her on the cheek, she doesn't do anything but smile after the girl as she jogs over to the warm-up area.

Then, a whistle blows, and everyone gathers around, Santana in the front of the group. A woman in a tracksuit marches in, holding a clipboard and a megaphone, comes in and yells at them the name of a routine. Upbeat music starts, and the girls launch into a complicated routine of flips, twists, and aerial moves, all of them featuring Santana. _She must be the captain_, Sebastian thinks. He also has realized another thing about the Latina, one which might throw a wrench in all of his plans.

The girls end with two small groups off to the side, and a pyramid on the center, Santana doing the splits at the top, help up by a few other girls.

"YOU THINK THIS IS HARD?! I'M PASSING A GALLSTONE AS WE SPEAK, THAT'S HARD! AND I WANT THE TEARS OUT OF YOUR EYES, HANNAH! YOU'RE THE WEAK LINK! HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE THE WEAK LINK, HUH?! THAT CAN'T FEEL VERY GOOD! YOU'RE ALL SLOPPY BABIES EXCEPT FOR SANDBAGS! HIT THE SHOWERS!"

When the crazy woman known as Coach Sylvester finishes her rant, Santana smirks and gets lowered to the ground, and is immediately handed a towel and water bottle. Most of the Cheerios know not to get on her bad side, and are mostly in awe of Sue's favoritism to her. She walks over calmy to Sue with a little swagger in her step, because she knows that Sue likes her Cheerios to have attitude.

"Coach? You wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes, Sandbags. I'm not going to be here next practice, so I need you to take over. You know how I do it. I'm having Becky Jackson film you, so I can still tell everyone what you're doing wrong, but let them have it." Santana gives her an evil smile. Full control of the Cheerios for a day. Fantastic.

"On, it, Coach."

"That's my girl." Santana smirks and joins up with Brittany, heading to the locker room. A bunch of girls swarm her, pelting her with questions about what Sue wanted, the routine, and other stuff.

"Who was that hot guy on the bleachers? He couldn't take his eyes off of you," A freshman asks. Santana smirks.

"Oh, him? Rich prep school boy. He's mostly gay, I wouldn't get your hopes up, ladies, and, yes, Sarah, I know I'm smoking hot."

The girls break off and gossip about everything, so Santana takes a quick shower, and changes into her spare clothes, a tight red skirt, black and gold cropped-sleeve cardigan/shirt, and nude combat boots. The other girls change into their normal clothes as well, take a minute to fawn over her outfit, and then they all leave. When Brittany tells her that she's heading home, Santana kisses her girlfriend goodbye, and takes another second behind to text Quinn about the details of practice, since she likes knowing what's going on. She leaves after, and turns a corner, still typing, and smashes into someone.

"_Mirar por donde vas, idiota!_" she blurts out quickly, not knowing who she bumped into. Her eyes refocus, and she sees a blue and red blazer, and an infamous smirk. "Ah, Meerkat. What are you still doing here? Did you enjoy watching out practice?"

"Yes, it was very entertaining." He turns to walk with her, and she starts walking towards the front doors. "That woman is insane," he says, smirking.

"Tell me about it. I've had to put up with her for four years."

"Who's Sandbags? From what it seemed, getting praise from that lady is rare."

"It sure is. But, I'm head Cheerio, and Coach Sue's favorite, so that's normal. They should be getting used to that by now."

"Why does she call you Sandbags?" Sebastian asks curiously as he holds the door for her outside.

"Preggo spread a rumor at the beginning of junior year that I had gotten a boob job over the summer, because Stretch Marks wanted to be head Cheerio. Sadly, it worked, and I got demoted, but that didn't last long. I was head Cheerio again by Sectionals."

"Impressive. And, by the way, who's Preggo?"

"Same person as Stretch Marks. Quinn Fabray. Got knocked up, sophomore year."

"Ah. Lot's of drama, eh?"

"Yep. Quinn and I became really good friends again at Nationals last year, though. We're both kinda over it."

"Nice. Where's your ride?" He asks, scanning the parking lot. Santana curses.

"_Joder, pinche coche,_" she mutters. He raises a questioning eyebrow, but she ignores it. "Give me a second." She whips out her phone, and texts Puck to see if she can get a ride. He responds a few seconds after, apologizing for leaving without her, and saying he'll be there in a few minutes. "My ride will be here in a minute. See you," she says, going over and sitting down on a bench. Sebastian smirks, and follows her, sitting next to her. She raises an eyebrow, and he shrugs.

"Just making sure J-Lo makes it out of this dump." She rolls her eyes, and goes back to her phone, this time texting Quinn again, who had asked her something about Cheerios practice. She answers quickly, and then moves on to Brittany, who's asking about a date this weekend. "So, is that blonde your girlfriend?" Sebastian asks.

"Yeah. I'm a lesbian. What's it to you?" she asks sarcastically. She's sort of lying. She is sure that she's not straight, but she might be bi-sexual. She doesn't know yet. He shrugs, and starts thinking about how this will affect his carefully crafted plans. Then, Puck's Hyundai pulls up, and she shoves her phone in her bag, and stands up. "_Adios_, Fievel," she says, assigning him another nickname. He smirks.

"See ya, Sha-queer-a."

She rolls her eyes, and gets in Puck's car, leaving Sebastian behind her. SHe and Puck converse normally, with a few apologies thrown in for leaving her at McKInley.

"Again, it's fine Puck. All this apologizing will ruin your rep, if I have anything to say about it. Feivel kept me distracted, anyways."  
"Feivel?" Puck asks. "Is that the guy that was with you?"

"Yeah, I was visiting Jeff at Dalton, and he challenged me, so I put him in his place, J-Lo style, and he's popped up a few times." Puck is one of the few people at McKinley who knows that Jeff is Santana's cousin.

"Is he the Warbler judge from the Mash-Off? Sebastian?" Santana nods.

"He hung around musical rehearsal yesterday. And I saw him at Scandals. He was also watching our Cheerios practice."  
"Ahh. That makes sense. Those are really fun to watch."

"Shut it, perv," Santana says jokingly, elbowing Puck. He rolls his eyes, smirks, and stops at Santana's house. She gets out, and Puck reaches across the car, and slaps her ass playfully. "Jerk," she says, spinning out of his reach. "See you at 8:15?" Puck nods, and drives away one she closes the door to is car. She sighs, and walks slowly up the pathway to the front door. She sees both of her parent's cars, so they must be home. Even if they weren't, her Abuela would be, but if she didn't feel like opening the door, Santana has a key.

Santana knocks, but there is no answer, so she figures they must all be busy. She fishes out her key, and unlocks the door to find her parents arguing heatedly in the living room. As soon as they realize her presence, they stop, and look anywhere but her and each other when Santana asks what's going on.

They make up some feeble excuses that Santana can see straight through, but leaves it alone, and trudges up the stairs, her mind weighed down by what's happening with her parents. She runs into the twins on her way to her room, and her mood lifts, they have that effect on her. But then again, she always tries to be happy and kind around them. They deserve it.

Her night goes normally, save the untouchable tension between Santana and her parents. She helps her dad make dinner, and put the twins to bed, like usual. Then, once they're asleep, she grabs her bag, and heads out the door quickly, jumping on her bike, and speeding off to the Lima Bean.

It takes a little bit to get there, but once she parks, she speed-walks in, and goes straight to the counter for a coffee to soothe her nerves. She doesn't know the night shift staff well, so she settles for an indifferent smile, and goes over to her favorite window seat. A few seconds later, Puck walks in, grabs a coffee, and comes straight over to Santana.

"What's new, as of a few hours?" Santana sighs, letting Puck know that something's up. He slides next to her, and puts his arm around her shoulders.

"My Mami and Papi."

"Yeah?" Puck asks softly. He doesn't want to disturb or frighten the Latina, but he would like more information.

"When I got home, they were fighting. Like, really fighting. Papi looked ready to throw things, and Mami looked about to cry."

"Do you know why they were fighting?" Puck asks, resting his chin on the Latina's head, which is leaning against his chest.

"I-I think it was about me. I heard them arguing in the kitchen yesterday. I knew they were talking about me then, so I think it could be about me. I don't want to be the reason why they're fighting, Puck." The Latina sounds miserable, he knows what it's like to have your parents fight. It sparked his dad to leave. He knows it's worse on Santana though. Having two people who you love fight because of you . . . that's tough. He never really knew his dad, so it wasn't as much of a problem. He knows that she doesn't want pity, and the best thing he can be is there for her, whatever happens, so he holds her for a while. Neither complains, Santana and Puck have their history, and both are extremely grateful for each other.

Sophomore year, when Puck was going though baby drama with Quinn, Santana was there, every night, she would ride her bike over, and play videogames with him, watch movies, she'd sometimes order pizza and beer, or they'd just talk, or she'd hold him. Earlier this year, when Santana was coming out of the closet, and still confused about her sexuality (She honestly still kinda is), he was there, helping her deal with it all.

After a bit, they both get up, Santana to the bathroom to clean up, and Puck to grab two more coffees, and when they sit down again, talk and tone has changed, neither of them touching the subject again, until when they're both saying goodbye.

"You don't think they'll split, do you?" When Puck looks into the dark, beautiful eyes of Santana Lopez, he can see the fear and sadness hidden behind her walls. He shakes his head, taking her hand and squeezing it comfortingly.

"No. THey've been together for too long to split up now. To prove it to you, how's this. If they do end up splitting, I'll give you 50 bucks." This seems to lighten the mood, and cheer Santana up a little, the corner of her mouth twitches a bit, and some of the sadness disappears.

"Make it 100, and you got a deal."

"Deal."

"Thanks Puck."

"Anytime, Tana."

With that, Puck drives off, Santana following a minute later, taking the back streets, praying that everything will be ok.

Sebastian got home fairly quickly, and found his mom outside, talking to a man, a moving van parked outside. He sighed. He expected this. He parks as well, and goes up to his mom. She tells him that they're moving in a week. Perfectly fine with him. He can't wait to get the hell out of this place anyways.

He goes inside, and finds a fair amount of boxes piled into the living room. He goes upstairs to his room, and looks around at his room. There are surprisingly few number of boxes, he's an efficient packer, and it doesn't hurt that the boxes are big. Plus, most of his stuff is downstairs already.

He goes out to the hall, and looks in all the rooms. There's a lot of them, and they're all empty. All of the boxes from upstairs are moved down, except the ones in his room. So, he goes back to his room, and lays on his bed, thinking about his plans.

Santana Lopez. Amazing singer. Dance maven/vixen. Sexy lesbian bitch. He isn't as sure anymore how to gain access to her amazing moves and smoking body. There's a chance that she might be bi-sexual, but she has a girlfriend. Then he gets an idea. She's tough, like him, and a bitch. HBIC, if he didn't know better. She loves danger, thrives on it, again, like him. Likes to break the rules. For instance, sleeping with the enemy. He knows she won't be able to resist the temptation. Plus, he is pretty hot, if he does say so himself. Now, to reveal himself to the New Directions. He's planning to do that eventually, he's definitely ready for some high-class bitching.

**A/N: I'm sorry I made Santana so miserable, but life can suck, and it makes a great plot point. And I wanted to make Sebastian a real person, instead of just the douche he is on glee. **


	5. Michael

A week later, and Santana's feeling conflicted. Different sides of her, and opposite emotions are trying to take control. She felt over the moon performing _West Side Story_, she loved every second, dancing and singing her heart out, not having to worry about everyone's opinions, because if they thought she seemed happy, she could play it off as acting.

But, she was sad and miserable because her parents have been fighting even more, and it's getting harder to hide it from her siblings. She can't tell what the fights are about most of the time, but she often hears her name, or is fairly certain it's about her. When she's sad or scared, she tends to unconsciously revert to bitch-mode, and lash out at people around her, often times, it ends up being Glee Clubbers.

It's one of her ways of coping, she knows she should work on it, but she doesn't know how, Brittany isn't the best with this kind of stuff, she doesn't deal with crap like Santana's, so she goes to Puck. He does what he can, but it's hard.

She's also annoyed. She hasn't seen Sebastian much since the Mash-Off, except for scant few snarky, insult-filled, snappy exchanges at the Lima Bean. To her, it seems as if he's getting more annoying. She did overhear Kurt bitching about him to Mercedes and Rachel about an encounter in the Lima Bean about Blaine. He's been getting much more intolerable to everyone, including her. He's meaner, has lot's more insults, to her, Kurt, and basically everybody except Blaine, and is getting more and more competitive with them, enlarging the fact that they are competing at Regionals against each other.

What no one else knows, is that he's been executing another part of his plan. In these past weeks, he's taken control of the Warblers, and they are all anxious for his new ideas, they all really want to win Regionals.

He's also met Kurt, and exchanged a few texts with Blaine, revealing his colors to them. Kurt hates him, mainly for trying to steal Blaine, and Sebastian despises Kurt just as much. He really gets on Sebastian's nerves. Sebastian does like Blaine, but not _like_ like. He's ok. Not his type, though. Blaine's much too . . . soft. Gentle. Caring. Naive. Weak. He definitely prefers some fire in his victims.

So, one day, Rachel, Artie, Kurt, Blaine, Santana and Puck are at the Lima Bean, discussing the impromptu performance of the morning, Blaine bursting into the King of Pop's _Wanna Be Starting Something_. Currently, they are discussing using Michael Jackson for Regionals. Then, much the the infuriation of everybody, Rachel pipes in, saying that she never 'got' Michael.

"And, we are no longer on speaking terms," Artie said stiffly, swiveling his chair a bit facing away from Rachel.

"No, I think he's an amazing performer, but I never really got what he was about."

"Rachel, he was best friends with Liza Minelli and Liz Taylor," Kurt said. Santana, Artie and Puck looked at him, like _that's why he was great? Those are your priorities?_

"No, all I'm saying, is that I-I-I just haven't connected with him the way that I have with the likes of Barbra, or either of the Stevens." Everyone stares at her. "Sondheim. Schwartz," She clarifies indignantly.

"I'd throw this mocha in your face, but it's not _nearly_ scalding enough," Santana snaps. Puck nods in agreement.

"Ok, well, since you guys are so _jazzed_ about him, I think it's a good idea for Regionals."

"That might not be the best idea." Santana rolls her eyes at Sebastian's intrusion. She's really getting sick of him. "Hey Blaine. Hello everyone else." Sebastian tries to only look at the addressed ex-Warbler, giving him a flirty smile, but he can't help but sneak a peek at the clearly annoyed Latina sitting _very_ close to a tough-looking guy with a mohawk. For some reason, their proximity irks him. He isn't sure why. He refocuses on the conversation, now ignoring that end of the couch.

"Does he _live_ here or something, seriously, you are _always_ here," Kurt remarks sassily.

"Why don't you think that's a good idea?" Artie asks, thankfully refocusing them all on why he interrupted in the first place.

"Because we're doing MJ for Regionals." As soon as the words left his mouth, Santana frowned. Is _another_ person stealing their setlist? In the words of Mercedes, hell. To. The. No. "See, Warblers drew first position, so as soon as I heard what your plan was, I changed our setlist accordingly."

"I'm sorry, h-how did you hear?" Rachel snaps.

"Blaine told me this morning." Everyone stares at said boy, who slouches into the couch cushions. "I just called for a tip on how to get red wine out of my blazer piping, and he would not stop going on about it." Santana turns to glare at Blaine while he fidgets in his seat, clearly uncomfortable.

"I may have mentioned it," Blaine mumbles.

"How often do you talk?" Kurt said, the jealousy seeping into his normally calm voice. Santana rolls her eyes at Kurt's jealousy issues.

"Oh my god, hey Kurt, I didn't recognize you! You are wearing _boy_ clothes for once," Sebastian drawls conceitedly, his trademark smirk ever-present. That's it for Santana. SHe may not like Kurt all that much, but he's not going to get away with insulting her glee club like that.

"Okay Twink. I think it's time that I show you a little bit of Lima Heights Hospitality," she says, standing to face him. In his eyes, she can see a slight bit out doubt, guilt, and fear, and she savors it, but it disappears.

"Unless you want to join your relatives in prison, that's probably not the best idea," Sebastian says, turning a bit to face the Latina. Santana gives him a look, attempting to say, _go on, this could be interesting what lies you think you know about me._ "See, my dad is what you'd call a States Attorney, but if you had a _pinata_ you wanted delivered, I bet he could make sure that got to them."

"Is that the best you can do?" she challenges. "Run to Daddy?" Sebastian frowns for a second. Good comeback. Surprising. She's about to go on, when Puck grabs her arm, and whispers to her.

"_He's not worth it, San. Sit down._" She rolls her eyes and sits back down next to Puck. Sebastian watches this whole exchange with interest. He is, for some reason, slightly annoyed by him touching her arm like that, and sitting that close, but at least she gave up. He doubts she could hold up against him, anyways.

"Alright, so here's what you guys should know. I'm captain of the Warblers now, and I'm tired of playing nice." With that, he smirks at them, and calmly walks out, leaving a handful of angry New DIrections behind him, specifically, an infuriated wheelchair boy, two angry divas, a guilty and upset ex-Warbler, a mad football player, and a _severely_ pissed-off Latina.

Once he leaves, everyone is so busy yelling at each other, Rachel is yelling at Blaine, Kurt is yelling at Rachel, Puck is calming a seething and swearing Santana, there is no organization whatsoever until Artie whistles loudly, making everyone shut up.

"Meeting. In the choir room. Now."

In less than 10 minutes, every single New Direction is gathered in the choir room, plus Mr. Schue and Shelby. Santana is sitting in a clump with her best friends, Puck, Quinn, and Brittany, waiting for Mr. Schue to speak. Finally, he does.

"Now, I know you're all really upset, but there's nothing we can do. Now, we get to come up with a brand-new, completely out-of-the-park setlist!" No one cheers for his false enthusiasm.

"Um, I don't feel comfortable having this conversation with Blaine in the room. Clearly 'Once a Warbler, always a Warbler' isn't just a phrase," Puck says bitterly. A few people nod, but Blaine stands up.

"Look, I'm really sorry for spilling that stuff to Sebastian. But, I know what Michael would do. Take it to the streets." He locks eyes with Santana, who gives him an evil smirk in return. This is her, Puck, and the football guys' turf. She and Puck stand up, and go to stand with Blaine, mapping out their plan.

Sebastian returns to Dalton satisfied, but frustrated that Santana paid him no notice, except when she was insulting him. He had an eye on her the whole time, she didn't even so much as glance his way. He needs a new plan, but he can't think of anything, so he's going to stick with it until he thinks of something better. Something to really get to her.

Sebastian walks into the Warbler Commons, and everyone is there with scared looks on their faces. He raises an eyebrow.

"What?" he demands. Trent stands shakily.

"It was the New DIrections."

"What about them?" he asks, slightly annoyed.

"Santana came in a minute earlier, and gave us this. She said to warn you."

"What did she say?" Sebastian asks before he could stop himself. Luckily, the boys don't seem to notice anything, and Nick stands up as well.

"I believe she said 'Tell your so-called captain not to play with fire. And I'm one fiery Latina, as you all well know. 'Cause if you play with fire, you only get burned.'" Sebastian couldn't deny that he was a bit intimidated by the Latina, and that her words send shivers down his spine, but he can't let that show in front of the Warblers.

"Give me the note." Trent rushes forwards and hands him a small scrap of paper, covered in stylish, sexy handwriting which he assumes is Santana's. The note says: _Meet me at the Lima Mall Parking Lot, basement. Bring your Boreblers. Then we'll see who's bad._

Sebastian shoves the note in his pockets, and turns to the Warblers, who are all looking at him for further instructions.

"Let's go."

Santana and Blaine lean against the posts in the parking lot, dark hoods pulled over their faces. Then, they hear them. The Warblers are here. They stand, and face the group of boys.

"Well we're here," Sebastian says, boredly.

"We've got something to settle. Both of us want to use MJ, but only one can," Blaine says, glaring at his former friends. Santana rolls her eyes and cuts to the chase.

"We're having a Jackson-Off, Nick at Nite, winner gets the King of Pop for Regionals." Sebastian raises an eyebrow at her, noticing subconsciously how sexy she looks in that jacket.

"What, us, against the two of you? You really think you're that bad? Is that what they teach at that little public school of yours?" Sebastian sneers.

"It's time to see who's bad," Blaine says. Santana smirks, and savors the surprise on Sebastian's face when she snaps loudly, and the rest of the New Directions emerge from the shadows. They stare at each other for a few tense seconds before the Warblers break into, of course, _Bad_. They move into formation, and the New DIrections do the same.

Artie's positioned in the front, taking the lead on vocals, and Sebastian notices Santana right behind him, shooting daggers at all of them. Well, mostly him. And, Sebastian _definitely_ noticed that she still had that Cheerios uniform on. Talk about a short skirt. This'll be hard.

Artie still on lead, both groups move around each other, and around the area, each team with their own choreography. Santana sees her friends, her Warbler friends, looking just as intense as the New Direction. She frowns. She is wondering how Sebastian managed to corrupt what was once a nice, kind, funny, group of boys. Well, she'll just have to fix them.

Blaine takes over for the bridge, and Santana preps herself for her turn. This is one of her very few solos, she's going to make it count. They all move into two formations facing each other, and Santana starts on the chorus, crushing the dance moves simultaneously.

Sebastian can't help but watch as Santana sings the chorus. To him, it seems like she has the best voice, so they are smart for showing it off. But when she spins around . . . well, it is a bit hard for him to stay focused. Those Cheerios skirts are _short_. Then, once the chorus finishes, the Warblers surround the New Directions in a circle, stopping every once in a while. Artie takes control of the melody again, as does Blaine, and they move in sync to the beat. Then, Santana takes over, having some fun with runs and high notes as they move around.

Then, each person finds a member of the opposite choir for 'duels'. Due to him being the captain, and Santana on leads again for the chorus, they end up circling and facing each other. WHen she leans towards him, though he's supposed to move away, he doesn't want to, but he does. He leans to her, and she willingly backs away though.

She puts her back to him, and a few of the Warblers scurry off, while the New Directions and remaining Warblers regroup for the final lyrics.

Sebastian glances over, and sees a brown paper bag being passed throughout the Warblers. He smirks, and moves over to them. The New Directions are all standing together, and he rests his eyes on a cheerleader. Not Santana. Brittany. The one thing standing in the way of his plans. A slushie cup is pressed into his hands, and he swiftly tosses it in that direction. Kurt is next to her, and it seems like he was aiming for him. Well, he would have preferred it hit Brittany, but Kurt'll do.

Then, he hears moans. He looks at the situation, and sees Blaine, lying on the ground in pain, holding his eyes, Kurt comforting him, and everyone else simultaneously trying to help Blaine, and give Sebastian murderous looks. Sebastian turns on his heel, and cocks his head for the Warblers to follow him. Most of them do, he's gotten most of their respect, but Jeff, Nick, Thad and Trent linger behind a bit, Nick not heeding his warning to not look back.

Santana's arms are immediately gripped tightly by Quinn and Puck, which are the only things keeping her from killing Sebastian, and both of them know that she could, in more ways than one. Brittany is hunched over Blaine, along with Kurt, Rachel, and Finn. They all hear him moaning, and Santana tells them to let her go, and as the only New Direction who brought her phone (idiots), calls 911. They come in seconds, and agree to bring Kurt with Blaine, leaving the rest of them behind, worried, and scared for their friend.

The next day, at school, everyone in glee accosts Kurt, asking what happened to Blaine.

"His left eye, his cornea was deeply scratched. Not fatal, but requires a surgery." Everyone was really depressed after that. As they all band together and go off to their classes, Santana hangs behind because her phone is ringing.

"Hello?"

"Tana . . . it's us." She stops. She narrows her eyes.

"Us as in . . ."

"As in Nick, Trent, Thad and I."

"Put them on speaker, Jeff," Santana said, not sure if she wanted to speak to her cousin and his friends after what they did to Blaine.

"Hey San." Santana hears the voices of Thad and Trent echo Nick's sullen greeting.

"So, um, how is he?" Thad inquires lightly.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she says, slightly angry.

"We didn't mean to hurt Blaine! Sebastian didn't tell us about it because he knew we'd tell you!" Trent blurted out, unable to control himself. Santana's heart softens a bit.

"Trent, don't cry. He'll be ok. His left cornea was deeply scratched, he'll need a surgery, but after a bit, he'll be fine." The boy sounds comforted at the words, since the sniffling quiets, but the others groan.  
"You sure?" Thad asks nervously.

"Yes, I'm sure Thad. You can stop beating yourself up over this. Tell Jeff to let go of Nick's hand, because he's leaving fingernail marks, and tell Nick to stop biting his nails, it wasn't his fault. Also, tell Trent to stop bouncing his leg, I can hear it from here, and it's annoying."

"How-"

"Remember? My third eye? Plus, I know what y'all do when you're nervous or guilty." They all let out a collective sigh, and Santana nods to herself.

"Thanks San. My hand can breathe again at least," Nick says.

"Your welcome. Now, I have to get to class, I think you boys to too, and your captain won't like you fraternizing with the enemy." They all admit that she's right, and hang up, and she darts into her first class, glaring at a student who took her usual seat in the back. His eyebrows shoot up in fright, and he quickly moves to a different chair. Santana smirks to herself, and sits down, preparing herself for a long day.

Lunch period finds Santana wandering the halls, trying to find Kurt. He wasn't at the glee club usual table, so they sent Santana to find him, weirdly enough. She pokes her heads into classrooms until she finds Kurt in the deserted English room, notebook in front of him, forehead resting on his hand, his eyes studying the paper intently.

"Hey. What are you doing?" she asks, slightly confused.

"Trying to keep the flames from shooting out of the sides of my face."

"Well that outfit isn't helping," Santana quips as she sits down across from him. He holds his pen over the notebook, which has a few things written down on it, like he's thinking.

"I agree with Artie. I'm tired of being stepped on all the time." Santana thinks back to Artie outburst, about how taking the high road can't always be expected of the glee clubbers, especially when people treat them like shit. "I take a lot of crap, from a lot of people, but i refuse to take it from Sebastian, the Criminal Chipmunk."

Santana nods in appreciation at the nickname/insult, and mentally jots that down to save for later. Ever since the Lima Bean incident, she's been subconsciously thinking of more insults for him.

"So, I've been sitting here for the last hour making a list of ways to get back at him." Santana smiles, slightly evilly.

"Well today's your lucky day, because Auntie Snixx just arrived on the Bitchtown express. Now, my suggestion is that we drag him, bound and gagged, to a tattoo parlor for a tramp stamp that reads 'Tips Appreciated', or 'Congratulations, You're My 1,000th Customer'." Santana is pretty pleased with her ideas, but apparently, Kurt isn't satisfied.

"After what he did to Blaine . . ." Santana looks at him sympathetically. She knows that he really cares about Anderson, and she respects that. If she were in his shoes, and someone hurt Brittany, she'd already have gone all Lima Heights on their ass. Kurt shakes his head slightly. "I really wanted to hurt him. But I can't. I've fought against violence at this school for too long." He pauses. "I have to take the high road." Santana nods slightly.

"You know what, Prancy Smurf, I respect that. You're probably right. I want to go to a college that isn't a Fema trailer in a prison yard, so . . . let's take the high road. We're not going to beat Sebastian by playing dirty." Santana acquires a glint in her eye that makes Kurt slide his chair away from the Latina. Santana smirks. "But we are going to beat him."

Sebastian was tired. He had spent all of Friday convincing the Warblers that it wasn't his fault that Blaine got hurt. He thinks that he finally achieved it, due to almost everyone back to normal at practice that day. He's also tired because of Santana. Slushiying Blaine did not have the effect that he had hoped. She had been even more angry with him.

Was he wrong in thinking that she was one of those girls? The ones that like to do what people tell them not to? Or is she fighting her desire? Or, is she just insanely loyal to her club? That can't be it, since she left the New Directions and joined the Troubletones for a bit. So what is it then? _It's probably the girlfriend,_ Sebastian thought as he walked down the hall. But what about that guy from the Lima Bean? He picked her up after her cheerleading practice, and was sitting awfully close to her at the coffee shop.

Sebastian shakes his head as he emerges from the building and gets in his car, heading home for the weekend. He takes the long drive to his house as fast as he can, remembering that he's moving this weekend. It's good thing too, this house is closer to Dalton. He parks, and sees his mom and dad, and some other guys moving boxes into a van. His dad. His dad is home. He smiles, and gets out of the car, heading over to them. When they see him, they both smile and put their boxes down, both engulfing him in a hug. His family is amazing, it's just that he doesn't see his dad much, due to him always being away for cases. When he was a boy, he always helped his dad with stuff at home, and cooked with his mom, so they were like the paragon of a perfect family. Not as much anymore, but he still loves them. Hopefully, his dad will stay for a while this time.

They invite him to help move boxes, and he says that he'd love to, just wants to change first. He runs upstairs, throws on a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, before heading downstairs and meeting his parents in grabbing more boxes. He joins them, and soon, most of the boxes are gone, and the van is full. Sebastian goes into the house, and looks around, it is basically empty. He moves the last boxes from his room into his car, and they decide to look at the new house. His mom volunteers to drive the van over, so Sebastian and his dad can spend more time together. So, he hops in his dad's car, and they start driving.

"So, Seb, you find any good girls or guys lately?" his dad asks. Both his parents are fully supportive of him being bi-sexual, so he shrugs. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Sort of. There's this girl, she's fiery, and really hot, but she hates me, and there's also this guy, he's cute, but not my type. I also slushied him,"

"Why does this girl hate you?"

"But I insulted her, and I slushied her teammate. The guy." Sebastian's dad, not his mom, knows about his school persona. Arthur Smythe can relate, he was very much like Sebastian in high school.

"Insulted her?"

"She's fiery," Sebastian repeats. "We swap insults, but I might have gone a bit far, involving her family."

"Do you know much about her family?"

"Nothing, except her cousin is a Warbler." Arthur raises an eyebrow.

"And why did you slushie her teammate? Rival glee club?"

"Yeah. I was actually aiming for her girlfriends outfit, but I missed, and it went towards the guy's boyfriend, so he jumped in the way."

"Wait. So your girl is a lesbian, and your guy has a boyfriend," Arthur clarifies, amused by his son's choices.

"I'm mostly hoping that the girl is bi-sexual. Like me."

"But she has a girlfriend," Arthur says slowly, to get his bearings on his son's interests.

"The girlfriend isn't exactly smart. Maybe she'd like me better." Arthur just shrugs, and turns down a street. Sebastian looks out the window at the houses. They're shorter than the ones he's used to, but they're cute. More like homes. Arthur parks in front of a beige, shingled two-story house, with a nice front lawn, and what looks to be a large backyard.

"Welcome to Lima Heights, son." he says, clapping Sebastian on the back. He then turns off the car, and gets out, and watches Alicia Smythe park the van behind him. Sebastian frowns as he recognizes the area, but he's not sure where from. He shakes his head, and gets out as well, where his parents are talking with the movers.

"Hey, Seb? These guys are going to start setting things up for tonight, and moving these things in. Do you want to look around, or come and meet the neighbors with us?" Alicia asks. His parents have a habit of always meeting the neighbors first thing, so he smiles, and shrugs.

"I think I'd rather look around first."

"Ok. We'll be next door," Arthur says, pointing to a gray house next door, the same height as theirs, with a stone walkway, and a path leading around back. Sebastian nods as Arthur tosses him the key. Sebastian catches it easily, and turns around, going up the cobblestone path, and unlocking the front door.

He explores the ground level, with a kitchen, living room, office, laundry room, and a bathroom, and the upstairs, containing an assortment of bedrooms, bathrooms, and a studio. The house is still fairly big, but not nearly as large as their last one. This one feels more homey. Sebastian thinks it'll suit them. He goes back downstairs, and through the kitchen, finding a door to the backyard. He scans it, a garden bed along one side, semi-large patio, and toolshed in the back corner. He sees a weird seam in the fence, so he squints at it from his spot on the porch. To him, it seems like a gate, or door. His suspicions are confirmed when two small kids, a girl and a boy come running through into his yard. He then hears a voice, definitely older, definitely female, yell at them.  
"_Escucha!_ The neighbors are here! You can't go into their yard anymore!" Sebastian grins, and looks at the kids, who have stopped, and are staring at him. He hears an annoyed, but amused sigh from the other side of the fence, and then footsteps. Then, a miracle occurs. Santana Lopez emerges from the hole in the fence.

Santana is rolling her eyes at the troublesome twins, going on strangers' property, when she looks in, and sees him. Sebastian Smythe.

"_You've got to be kidding me,_" she mutters under her breath. She steels herself, resists the urge to slap him, and goes over to the twins, who are still staring at him. She rolls her eyes, and picks up Andrea, and grabs Mateo's hand, bringing them both back to the gate.

"Hey Lopez!" Sebastian calls. Santana grits her teeth. She was hoping he didn't speak, since when he talks, she just wants to punch him.

"Yes, Meerkat?" The twins look at her, confused.

"These your siblings?" She nods. "They're cute." He winks, and then, she's had it. She brings them back to her yard, and locks the gate. She's now very glad that it locks on her side. And that the twins can't reach it. She releases them, and they go over to the treehouse that Santana and Santiago built them, with spare parts from the junkyard, and wood found around.

"Tana! _Vamos!_" Andrea calls, waving at Santana to join them. She sighs, smiles, and climbs up the steps to the elevated structure. She sits on the ledge next to Mateo, and looks where he is looking. Next door. Sebastian is still in the same spot, this time typing on his phone.

Santana ushers the kids back into the house once they get bored, which is after tag, races, playing in the tree house, and basically every other game you can think of. By now, the twins are tired, which makes sense, because it's Friday night. So, Santana picks up Mateo, and then gets Andrea on her back, and brings them into the house slowly, as to not drop either. She hears conversation from the living room, which means . . . great. The neighbors. The Smythes.

She takes a deep breath, and goes into the room, and all eyes turn to her, but she's used to this, and breathes a sigh of relief when the beanbag is empty. She can feel eyes on her as she skirts the edge of the room as the adults continue their conversation. She then puts Mateo down as gently as she can, and then does the same with Andrea, who fell asleep on her back. She straightens, having already gotten used to the weight on her back, and her Papi smiles at her. Santana looks around, and sees all three Smythe's on the couch, and her parents in the two chairs. Santiago is about to offer his, when Santana stops him.

"Papi, _no. Voy a conseguir uno de la cocina_." Maribel nods in approval, and Santana disappears for a second, and comes back with a chair, placing it next to her Papi's, and sitting in it.

"You must be Santana," Mrs. Smythe says, smiling at her. Time for adult mode.

"Yes, that's me. Over there is Andrea and Mateo. They wore themselves out in the yard."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Alicia, this is my husband, Arthur, and my son, Sebastian." Santana smiles at the two adults and give Sebastian a fake smile, which he returns.

"Actually, Mom, Santana and I have met before."

"Really?" Maribel asks. Both teens nod.

"I went to Dalton to visit Jeff, and we met there," Santana summarizes.

"Yeah, and we've ran into each other a few times at the Lima Bean, and at McKinley at their performances," Sebastian adds.

"Do you perform, Santana?" Arthur asks. His mental gears started turning once the two teenagers admitted that they knew each other, and he has a theory about something, but isn't sure yet.

"Yeah. I sing and dance a bit."

"Just a bit?" Santiago teases. Maribel frowns slightly. Not enough for anyone to notice, but Santana saw the corners of her mouth drop a bit. "She's been dancing since before she could walk! She discovered singing once she joined her school's glee club, though." Santana nods, conforming her Papi's story.

Arthur smiles. He sneaks a look at his son, who's looking around at the house, but the older man can tell that he's actually looking at the beautiful Latina teenager. So this must be the "fiery" and "really hot" girl he was talking about. He didn't think that the two were on good terms, since Sebastian had slushied her teammate. Maybe she does the same thing that Sebastian does around other adults. The same thing he used to do. Maybe she's different around her family, and adults. Sebastian definitely is. She did seem to be really good with the twins, though. _Food for thought . . . _ Arthur thinks as the conversation focuses on Santana.

"Yeah, I'm also a cheerleader at McKinley. It's a way to dance, I guess."

"Of course, I used to cheerlead in high school, and I loved it. Do you have friends in this area? Maybe you could show Sebastian the sights sometime." Santana shrugs, even though the idea disgusts her.

"I have one friend that lives close by. He and I go back a while. And Lima Heights it a nice neighborhood, there's a nice park, and community center near here. Good walking distance." While Santana talks to Alicia, they decide to give them a quick tour of the house, Maribel said that if they need anything, anytime, they are right here to help. Arthur pulls Sebastian aside as the group leaves the room.

"Is that your girl?"

"What?"

"The girl you were talking about. The fiery one that hates you. That's her, right?" Sometimes, Sebastian hates how perceptive his father is. He nods. "I could see the fake smile. And how you kept looking at her. The singing part connected the two for me," Arthur said, explaining his train of thought.

"Yeah that's her," Sebastian said, running his hand through his hair.

"She seems like a really nice girl. Very pretty." Sebastian snorts. "What?"  
"'Nice' isn't the word I would use."

"So she acts different around adults? Where do I know that from?" Arthur teases. Sebastian rolls his eyes.

"It's not that I don't like this side of her. It's just that she hates me."

"Well, maybe she'll learn not to. You are neighbors after all. You're bound to spend more time together, so maybe she'll get over it." Sebastian snorts again.

"Sure. Trust me, you don't know the real Santana like I do." Arthur raises his eyebrows, but keeps silent as they rejoin the tour group. Does he actually know the "real Santana"? Maribel has taken the lead, and Santana hangs back, and meets up with them. She quickly, effectively explains the places that they missed, and then goes over to Santiago.

Sebastian is surprised, Santana looks exactly like her father, only female. Same dark, intense eyes, same black hair, same caramel skin tone, same trim features. Only on Santiago, they definitely looked more masculine, sharper, broader, tougher, while as on Santana, they looked much more feminine, more graceful, slimmer, smoother.

He noticed that the twins looked a lot more like Maribel, everyone in the Lopez household has the same skin tone, but Maribel and the twins' eyes are bright blue, and their hair is lighter than Santana and her father's.

Santana's eyes widen, like she forgot something, and turns, and races down the hall. Sebastian hears her quietly conversing in Spanish, and then comes back with a more . . . disappointed look on her face? He isn't sure, he's only ever really seen Santana either sassy, determined, or angry.

A few moments later, an old woman comes down the hall. Santiago quickly goes over to her and introduces her as Alma Lopez, his mother. She explains what's happening, and introduces the Smythe's in rapid-fire Spanish, and Alma nods, understanding every word, while the Smythe's have no clue what's going on.

"My Abuela was born in Puerto Rico, so Spanish is her first language. She does know English, but it's easier or her to take in a bunch of information in Spanish," Santana explains. "Papi is just telling her what's happening, and who you guys are." Alicia nods in thanks at Santana for explaining, and Sebastian marvels to himself how different Santana is at home. He kinda likes it, but he also does like that spit-fire element about her.

Sebastian then hears loud yelling from the direction of the living room, and Santana mutters something in Spanish that sounds like a curse. Luckily, her parents didn't hear it, or didn't care, but she quickly runs away, back into the living room. Sebastian follows her, he doesn't really need a tour, plus, he would like a drink of water. He sees the twins awake and arguing, and Santana trying to calm them down.

He leans against the doorframe at first, surprised when it works quickly. She then takes both of them by the hand and leads them to the kitchen. Looking up at the clock, Santana sees that they should be eating dinner by now, that's why the twins are upset and cranky.

"Mami! Papi! _Estoy haciendo la cena!_" she yells.

"_Gracias, mija_!" Santiago calls back. Sebastian watches, impressed, as she sets the twins on the counter with two cups of pretzels, and then starts moving quickly around the kitchen.

Santana decides to make _asopao_, it's easy, it's delicious, and it can serve a lot of people, since she's assuming the Smythe's are staying over for dinner. She grabs out a large pot, and starts chopping onions. After the first onion and a half, her eyes start to water, so she takes a quick break, wipes her eyes, and grabs a glass from the cupboard.

"Could I have some water too?" Twink. She turns to find him leaning casually against the doorframe. She rolls her eyes, she knows that she has to play nice, so she fills hers up, and sets it on the counter in front of him, and grabs a second for herself. She drains hers quickly, and then the twins get louder again since they finished their snack.

"_Dios mio_," Santana mutters. "Hey, you two, why don't you go find Abuela? She'd love to spend time with you two crazies."

"But we want you to tickle us!" Mateo said. Santana sighs.

"But I'm cooking dinner. Could you ask Papi to do it?" the both shake their heads, and Santana sighs again. Sebastian watches in amazement. Does she have to take care of the twins and cook every day? "Fine. But let me get this prepped, and cooking then I will. Deal?" Santana crosses her fingers hoping that they'll go with it.

"Deal!" they both say together. Santana smiles, and props them up on stools at the bar, and goes back to work, adding the water, and the rest of the ingredients.

"I hope no one in your family has eating restrictions," Santana says. It takes Sebastian a second to realize that she's talking to him, but then he shakes his head.

"Nope. We're all good."

"Great. Because it'd be a shame if you couldn't eat this."

"What is it?" Sebastian asks, genuinely curious.

"You'll find out," Santana says slyly. She puts a few more things into the pot, then covers it. The twins take this as their signal that it's play time, so they shriek and jump up, running into the living room. Santana follows them, and Sebastian turns to watch this go down.

Santana goes in on Mateo, who's on the beanbag, and starts tickling him, until Andrea jumps from the couch onto her back, knocking her to the side, and next to Mateo on the cushion. Santana then reaches an arm over, and starts tickling the little girl, giving Mateo the chance to escape. After Mateo takes a turn tackling her, and Andrea again, Santana gives up, and lets them climb on top of her on the beanbag chair.

They soon get comfortable, on on each side, and after a few minutes, Santana can feel their breathing slow, and knows that they're asleep. She carefully gets up, as to not wake them, and sits down on the couch, exhausted from the long day.

Then, the adults return, and Santana sits up, with a smile, greeting them, and offering up her seat. Sebastian watches all this with interest. She is really good with her siblings, and actually, really nice, to his parents, and her family too. He's sitting on the end of the couch, and he looks at Santana, to offer his seat, since she seems tired, but she shakes her head, barely, but perceptible. She then rushes to the kitchen when a timer rings.

"Papi! Mami! _Cena!_" Both of the Lopez's smile, and Maribel stands.

"I think dinner is ready. Santana made enough, so you're welcome to join us."

"Yes please, that'd be amazing, thank you!" Alicia says. Santiago gets up as well, and ushers everyone into the dining room, where multiple bowls of some sort of soup are laid out, enough places for each person. Santana then wakes the twins up, and they sit down, as well as the rest of the Lopez's, and the Smythes crowd in between. Sebastian find himself next to Andrea, the little girl, and Alma Lopez. He's directly across from Santana, who's sandwiched in between his father, and the little boy, Mateo. Maribel and Alicia are at one end, while Santiago sits at the other. Sebastian hears quiet murmurings in Spanish from Santana, and he wonders what she's saying as they all dig in.

Everyone comments on how delicious the food is after a few minutes of eating, and Santana smiles to herself. Conversation resumes, in English and scattered Spanish here and there. Maribel and Alicia talk about houses, with Mateo piping up every once in a while with a ridiculous comment, and Alma quietly listening in. On Sebastian's other side, Andrea is talking excitedly with Arthur and Santiago, the latter of whom is occasionally translating his daughter's instinctive Spanish.

Sebastian watches Santana eat out of his peripheral vision. She's fairly quiet, a trait he never thought could apply to Santana. Her eyes are drooping a bit, he can see that she's exhausted, form cooking dinner, to entertaining the twins, to playing 'perfect hostess'. Dinner finishes quickly, and Maribel glances at Santana, who, at the look, gets up, and starts taking everybody's bowls. Sebastian's eyebrows crease, at more work, which her mom seems to be putting her up to.

Santana picks up the large stack of carefully balanced bowls, and takes them into the kitchen. She sets then gingerly on the counter, and turns on the tap, and fills up the pot to soak while she washes the bowls. She washes half of the bowls before her Mami calls her.

"Santana! _Puedes coger a los gemelos?_"

Santana sighs. "_Sí, Mami!_" she dries her hands, and returns to the dining room, and picks up a sleeping Mateo, and takes the hand of a half-asleep Andrea. She leads them upstairs to their room, helps them put their PJ's on and brush their teeth, and then puts them into their bunk bed, Mateo on top, Andrea on the bottom.

"Tana?" Andrea mumbles sleepily. "Can you sing?" Santana smiles and nods.

"Do you want to pick, or do you want me to?"

"Do the story one," Mateo mumbles from above.

"Ok." Santana sits down in a chair, takes a breath, and starts to sing.

[Santana]

_She was driving last Friday on her way to Cincinnati_

_On a snow white Christmas Eve_

_Going home to see her momma and her daddy_

_With a baby in the backseat_

_Fifty miles to go, and she was running low_

_On faith and gasoline_

_It'd been a long, hard year_

_She had a lot on her mind and she didn't pay attention_

_She was going way too fast_

_And before she knew it_

_She was spinning on a thin black sheet of glass_

_She saw both her lives flash before her eyes_

_She didn't even have time to cry_

_She was so scared_

_She threw her hands up in the air_

Santana starts on the chorus, letting her voice loose, letting the emotion pour into it. At this time, Sebastian is wondering where the bathroom is, since he didn't pay any attention to the tour, so he decides to explore on his own a bit. He makes his way upstairs, and hears singing. Beautiful singing. He quietly walks to the door where it's coming from, and peeks inside. In the room, he sees two asleep or almost-asleep kids, and Santana singing a beautiful song that he doesn't recognize. He is well educated in the pop, dance, rap, hip-hop and alternative genres, but not so much country.

He listens to the story the song is telling, a woman with a hectic life sorting out her emotions, and wishing she had time to do what really matters. She hits a spot of ice while driving, and is frightened. She relaxes when they stop, and her baby is fine, and calls out to Jesus to help her guide her life. To him, it sounds kind of similar to Santana.

Santana wraps up the song, and smiles in relief when she sees that the twins are both sound asleep. She stands up, then hears a shuffling in the hall. She whips her head towards the door, but there's no one there. Shrugging, she walks quietly to the door, flicks off the lights, and tucks them in, closing the door silently behind her. Relaxing her shoulders, and leaning her head back, she stares at the ceiling, debating whether it'd be ok to flop on her bed and fall asleep. But, she has dishes to do. So, she walks down the hall, and back down to the kitchen slowly.

Sebastian and Arthur notice Santana going back into the kitchen, and both of them get up and join her. When he hears them, she spins around, her hands covered in soapy water.

"Hey. Do you need something?" she asks.

"No, we're great, thank you. Do you need anything?" She looks taken aback by Arthur's question, and her eyebrows crease.

"No, I'm fine. If you want, I can finish these and join you," she offers. Arthur shakes his head.

"You seem tired, Santana. Long day?"

"Yeah. Very."

"Would you like some help?" Sebastian asks. She frowns.

"No, I've got it. You don't have to help-" She's cut off by Sebastian going over to her, and taking the soapy sponge out of her hands, and taking her place by the sink. Sebastian's eyes widen a bit when he feels tingles in his hands when he touched her. That's not supposed to happen. She steps away in surprise, then her eyes widen as Maribel enters the kitchen.

"Santana! _Los invitados no hacen platos!_" she scolds. Santana nods, wishing that Twink could keep his hands to himself for once. She steps back over, and takes the sponge back, and continues her work, narrowing her eyes at Sebastian for a second for getting her in trouble with her mom. Sebastian frowns and joins his dad.

"Maribel, thank you so much for dinner, it was amazing."

"Oh, thank you. It was nothing." From his place, Sebastian could see Santana frown. He would too, if he were her. Her mom just kinda took credit for all of her hard work. She finishes washing the bowls, pot and spoons, and takes a towel and dries them all off, putting them back in the cupboard. Arthur and Maribel talk for a bit in the kitchen, while Sebastian stands next to his father, watching Santana.

Now, Sebastian's feeling a little bit bad about his plan to take advantage of the dancing Latina. He knows now how busy and tiring her work is at home, and school, so now he's rethinking. That doesn't stop him from wanting her body for himself, plus, she'd at least get something out of that too.

Santana finishes the dishes, and asks her mom quietly in Spanish if she can head upstairs, but she says that she has to stay and interact with their guests. She sighs and follows her mom and Arthur through the door, and out to the living room. She glares at Sebastian as he sidles up next to her as they move to the living room, where Santiago and Alicia are already talking. _Abuela must have gone to bed. Lucky,_ Santana thinks. Luckily, though, this time, she manages to claim a seat, resting her body a bit. She scores a couch seat, but her Mami nods for her to let Sebastian have it. She growls a bit under her breath as she stands, Cheerios practice has her sore, so she plops down on the beanbag.

Sebastian glides smoothly into his mom and Santiago's conversation, but every so often, he finds himself glancing over to Santana, who, he can see, is trying to stay awake. He doesn't blame her, he'd already be asleep if he'd had to half of what she had. Cheerleading practice, glee club, cooking dinner, watching, feeding, taking care of, and putting to bed two rambunctious twins, doing the dishes, and staying up late, all while keeping up a smile, and a positive attitude. Yikes. Santiago Lopez notices Sebastian studying the tired girl, he smiles to himself, and he nods at Sebastian.

"Santana, why don't you head upstairs? It's late, and you seem tired." Santana jerks her head up, looking relieved.

"_Gracias._ Yeah, long day. Lots of stuff to do."

"_Buenas noches, mija_," her Papi says. Her Mami echoes the statement, and both Arthur and Alicia say goodnight to her as well, adding that it was nice to meet her. She smiles at them, waves, and darts up the stairs as fast as she can go, which isn't too fast considering that she's already half-asleep. She makes it to her room, and collapses on the bed.

After Santana went upstairs, the Smythe's decide to let the Lopez's alone for the night, and say their farewells. Maribel and Santiago both say that if they need anything, they're right here. Sebastian and his parents go outside, wave to the Lopez's, and go over to their house.

Sebastian fishes the key out of his pocket, and hands it to his dad as he opens the door. He left it unlocked so the movers could bring their stuff in. Since his parents already know their way around, they all go upstairs, where they direct him to his room. When he goes in, he nods appreciatively. It's a large room, the bed is already set up, his stuff is in his car though (he'll have to remember to get that in the morning), and a window on one side, near the bed. Just looking at it, he can see where all of his things will go. The closet is fairly big, which is nice for storage, and the walls are painted a soft, but deep blue. _Not bad, _Sebastian thinks.

He goes over to the window, and looks at the view. As it turns out, his window is facing the Lopez house. Coincidentally, there's a window directly across from his. He peers into it, and his eyes widen. How did he get so lucky as to be right across from Santana's room? From his window, he actually has a pretty good view of her room, at least, her bed, her desk, and at least half of the room itself. Her walls are painted black, but it doesn't seem that _dark_. It actually seems cozy, almost. She has a shiny black bedspread with a few sparkly throw pillows, zebra-print rug, wooden desk, and above her bed, a collage poster of different album covers, Madonna's _True Blue_, Britney Spears' _Circus_, Jennifer Lopez's _Love?_, Rihanna's _Good Girl Gone Bad,_ _21,_ by Adele, and Michael Jackson's _Bad._

He smiles when he notices Santana, asleep on the bed. It looks to him like she forgot to change, since she still has her Cheerios uniform on and her sneakers. He sees her stir a bit, and wonders if she knows that he can see her.

Santana groans, and remembers that she hasn't changed. She lazily pries herself off of the bed, and goes over to her dresser, grabbing a loose tank top and shorts. She slips them on, careful to hang up her uniform as to not be chastised by Coach Sylvester. Then, she turns out the lights, crawls under the covers, and falls fast asleep, her mind thinking of all the things she wants (read: needs) to tell Puck.

Sebastian watches thoughtfully as Santana sleeps, then moves under his own covers, thinking hard about what to do . . .

Santana wakes up in the morning to two lumps curled up with her. She smiles drearily, and looks down at the twins. When they can't sleep, they come in and seep with her, like she used to do with their parents when she was their age. She closes her eyes, but the twins felt her move.  
"_Buenos dias,_ Tana," Mateo mumbles sleepily. Andrea echoes the statement, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

"_Buenos dias, chicos_," Santana mumbles as the twins sit up. They make their way out of the bed, and Santana follows, tugging on her favorite sweater. The three go downstairs, and Santana leads them to the bar, helping them up, and grabbing them each a bowl of cereal. She grabs herself a bowl as well, and sits with them, in silence, eating her food. Santana looks up at the clock, and frowns. She was really tired, she slept in late today. She finishes her food quickly, tells the twins that she has to go, but Abuela's awake, and then runs upstairs to change.

Sebastian woke up fairly early, and had smiled when he saw the twins curled up with Santana. He had gone downstairs, and that find him where he is now; sitting at the kitchen bar, looking at something on his phone. Specifically, a map of Lima Heights. His things were delivered to his room in the morning, now all he has to do is unpack, and assemble a few things. He jogs up to his room, notes that Santana isn't in her room, and puts on designer jeans, a white shirt, his favorite jacket, and Converse. Then, after leaving a note on the counter, he walks out the door.

Santana rushes upstairs, and quickly tugs on her work jeans, faded, torn, ripped, and oil-stained from many, many weekends at the tire shop. She also puts on a grubby white t-shirt, also stained, and an old, slightly oversize McKinley High sweatshirt of Puck's. It actually fits her well, but it was already a bit muddy when he gave it to her, so now it's her work sweatshirt. She completes her uniform with black sneakers. She speedily assembles her messenger bag; phone, sunglasses, wallet, earbuds, hair brush (you never know what happens at the tire shop), lunch, and her water bottle. She pulls her hair into a tight bun as she jogs downstairs, calling to her Papi that she's leaving. She then hugs the twins goodbye, and goes out the door, texting Puck at the same time, telling him that she needs to talk to him, and hm responding that he'll find her. Then, she crashes into Sebastian.

"Leaving so soon, Sha-queer-a?" She takes a step back to steady herself, then glares at the boy.

"None of your business, Lurch," she snaps back. She then grabs her bike, and wheels it to the street. Sebastian takes note of her attire, and quirks an eyebrow.

"Going exploring? I thought you were an expert on Lima Heights by now."

"I am. I have . . . a meet up with Puck. You never know what he wants to do." She knows he caught her lie, but before he can answer, she puts on her helmet, straddles her bike, and zooms off, leaving an amused Sebastian Smythe behind her. She lets out a breath as the wind whips past her. A few strands of hair escape her bun, and she tucks them behind her ear. She curves around a corner, and smoothly skids to a stop at the front of Burt Hummel's garage, where that exact man is waiting, She pulls off her helmet, and smiles at him.

"Hey, Santana."

"Hi Burt. Sorry I'm late. Overslept, long Friday-"

"Don't worry about it. It's off the record." He winks at her, and she relaxes. Burt Hummel is a really great guy, he makes jokes with her, and he takes care not to let Kurt and Finn know that she works here, per her request. Burt is very easygoing, and that's really great when family stuff takes up lots of time.

Burt leads her inside, she parks her bike off to the side, and he leads her to a car on a lift. She waves to some of the other employees, who wave back at her, and then she stops. She takes a once-over of the car, and looks at Burt.

"Missing hubcap, oil leakage, engine rattling?" Burt nods in confirmation, and she grabs her tool belt, and gets to it. It takes a while, the car is pretty beat up, but once she finishes, the client rewards her with a huge smile, and they hand Burt a wad of cash.

"Oh, this is fifty bucks over, here," he says, handing the client their money. But, they shake their head, and refuse to take it back.

"It's a tip for the lady. She done a right good job on my car, and this was an emergency. New clients, long drive, that car's got to be tip-top shape. Thank her for me." Burt nods, and goes over to the cash register, and put in the original fee, going over to where Santana is currently under a car, and another guy is handing her tools.

"Hey Firefly! Boss wants you!" the guy calls. Santana smiles at her nickname, and wheels out from under the Chevy.

"Yeah? You wanted me?"

"Here ya go kid." He hands her the money, and she gapes at him.

"W-what is this? I can't take this. This is the fee for the car-"

"No, this is your tip. Outstanding job, Santana. They were extremely pleased with your work quality and efficiency. You deserve it, kiddo." Santana grins and she accepts the money, and tucks it safely into her wallet. Then, it's back to work.

After the run-in with Santana (literally), Sebastian went back into his house. He's decided to wait on exploring Lima Heights, he want to do it with Santana, and he's also 99% sure that he's going to get lost and/or mugged if he goes alone. So, he goes out back, and straight to the gate in between their houses. He pushes on it a few times, pulls on the handle, and it rattles, but doesn't open. He glances in the seam, and sees a lock on the other side, high enough so that the twins probably can't reach it, but low enough that he can't reach over the fence and open it. Damn, that Lopez is clever. So, with nothing else to do, Sebastian goes to his room, digs out his speaker, and puts on an album, and starts unpacking.

For her lunch break, Santana takes the stairs up to the little room above the garage. She takes her usual window seat, and takes out her lunch. She starts eating and looking out the window when a voice interrupts her peaceful silence.

"'Sup, Tana? You wanted to talk to me?" Santana grins, and turns to Puck, who's sitting casually across from her.

"Yeah, I did. About a few things, actually."

"Shoot."

"Well, I told you that the Callum's moved, right?" Puck shakes his head.

"No."

"Well Mr. Callum's sister's husband died, so they're living with her now, and guess who my new neighbor is?"

"Who?" Puck asks, expecting the worst.

"Sebastian Smythe."

"No kidding! Seriously?! The asshole who almost blinded Blaine?!" Santana nods and takes a bite of her sandwich. "How have you not punched his lights out yet?!"

"Parents. Mine and his. And when they weren't around, I had to watch the twins."

"Your mom still overworking you, huh?"

"Dude, you have no idea! Yesterday, I had Cheerios practice, glee club, taking complete care of the twins, cooking dinner, doing the dishes, and putting the twins to bed, all while having to pretend to be nice to Sebastian! His parents are ok, though."

"Yeesh. Sorry 'bout that, San. Well, if you ever need a night off, you know where to find me. Hell, you can even sneak out! Actually, that sounds like more fun, but if you ever need to just get away, I'm here." Santana smiles gratefully.

"Thanks, Puck. What would I do without you?"

"Probably a lot more housework and boring stuff." The both laugh, and Santana gives him half of her sandwich, and they eat, talking about what's going on with their families.

"So, your parents still arguing?" Puck asks quietly. Santana sets her food down, and nods.

"Yeah. They put it on pause for guests, but they are. They were arguing when I got home, and they were again later, so I took the twins out back, they went through the fence, and that's how I first found out that Criminal Chipmunk was my new neighbor. _Got to remember to thank Kurt for that nickname,_" she mutters to herself as Puck laughs.

THen, Burt comes up to remind Santana that she has five minutes left in her break. He sees the mohawked boy, he recognize him easily from Glee stuff, and he visits Santana often.

"Santana you have five minutes- oh. Hey Puck."

"Mr. Hummel," Puck says, exaggeratedly bowing. Burt chuckles, and smiles at Santana.

"Five minutes, kiddo." Santana nods, and gets up to throw away her trash. Puck does the same, and he bids her farewell.

"Hey, do you want to do a friends night at Breadstix tonight? Quinn and Britt are already in, if you are. And, I can pick you up." Santana smiles at Puck's invitation and nods.

"I'll be there. Meet me in the front of my house. Even if I have to sneak out." Puck grins and leaves, so Santana heads back to work.

The sun is starting to disappear behind the horizon as Sebastian finishes his unpacking. It took a while, he has a lot of stuff, and he took a long lunch break. He smirks, and glances around his room. He's now organized it, put his clothes away, and set up his furniture. Today, his parents were doing the same thing, setting up their room, and the kitchen. Tomorrow, it's the living room and dining room. Next weekend, the office, the guest bedrooms, the studio, and everywhere else. His parents agreed to let Sebastian take control of the studio, since they have the office, so Sebastian can't wait to set it up; he's planning on speakers, instruments, and a great dance floor. Basically, the perfect music/dance studio.

In his room, Sebastian hears the rumble of a motorcycle. He smirks, and jogs downstairs, and outside, watching Santana pull up to the curb. She whips her helmet off, an her hair flies around her face, whipping slightly in the breeze. He casually walks down to her, smirking when she frowns at the sight of him.

"Can I help you, Feivel?" she asks curtly.

"I was wondering what you're doing tomorrow," he replies casually.

"None of your business, Horse-Face," she snaps.

"Well, I was hoping you could show me around Lima Heights. SInce you're such an expert and all."

"Yeah, well too bad. I'm busy." What Santana didn't tell him, again, was that she has to work. She works less on Sundays, she only goes every other two weekends, and has a half day, so she's free the afternoon on those days, but Twink doesn't need to know that. SO, before he can speak, she turns, and hops her bike up, and wheels it to her usual spot. Sadly, he follows her.

"So, what is the great Sha-queer-a doing as an excuse to blow me off?" Santana glares at him.

"Again, none of _your_ business. Now take your freakishly horse-like nose out of mine." Santana turns on her heel, and marches towards her house, bag in hand, and goes inside, leaving Sebastian behind her.

The rest of Santana's night goes normally, or as normal as normal can get in the Lopez household. Santana overhears Maribel and Santiago fighting again, she cooks dinner, and puts the twins to bed while her Papi does the dishes. Around 9:00, she whispers to her Papi where she's going, and then heads to her room. She changes out of her work clothes into stylishly torn black skinny jeans, her nude-colored combat boots, a tight black t-shirt, and a red leather jacket. Then, she shoves her phone in her pocket, and opens the window, carefully swinging one leg out, then the other, closing the window most of the way, and then scales gracefully down the side of the house.

Sebastian had a normal diner with his parents, (he made spaghetti bolognaise, and it was delicious) and now he's in his room, reading his latest adventure/romance novel. He hears a crack from outside, and looks out his window. His eyes pop out when he sees Santana Lopez climbing out of her window. Gracefully, and catlike, she leaps to the ground, and Sebastian sees her get into a car waiting out front. _Interesting . . . _

Santana slides into Puck's passenger seat, and he grins at her, and starts driving towards the famous Italian restaurant. As they drive, Puck glances over at the Latina in the passenger seat, staring out the window intently, even though she's done this drive hundreds of times.

"You ok, Tana?"

"Yeah. Just trying to remember when my life got so miserable."

"Hey! It's not that bad," Puck assures her. Santana raises an eyebrow.

"My parents are fighting non-stop, I am overworked at home and at school, with Glee and Cheerios, and the garage, and taking full care of the twins, and my next-door neighbor is a pompous jerk that won't leave me alone."

"He bothering you a lot?"

"Yeah, he ambushed me as I was leaving for the shop and once I came back. I'm surprised he didn't confront me as I was heading out."

"Sorry San. My offer still stands, though."

"I can't leave the twins with Mami and Papi. They're both to busy with other stuff, and they need attention."

"Maybe you disappearing will show them how much work you do, and will make them get their heads out of their work." Santana looks thoughtfully out the window, considering Puck's suggestion.  
"Maybe. But not right now."

"Ok. Here we are!" Puck says, parking the car in the Breadstix parking lot. Santana smiles, and gets out of the car, following Puck into towards the bright lights of the restaurant, glowing against the darkness.

The pair goes in and scans the room, spotting two blondes in a booth. THey exchange a smile and go over to them, Puck sliding in next to Quinn, his sometimes girlfriend, and Santana next to hers. The four are best friends, Quinn, Santana and Brittany formed the Unholy Trinity in Middle School, but Puck was introduced to them quickly via Santana, and the four are as close as you can get.

They hang out for a little while, only ordering a few sides to keep them busy, and talking about McKinley gossip, and their current drama with the Warblers. Santana tells them about Sebastian moving in next door, and how she's forced to play nice around both of their parents.

They leave around 10:00, and Puck drives Santana home. She gives him a hug across the center console, and waves to him as he drives away. Then, she goes over, under her window, and scales up the house as gracefully as she did the way down. She slides in her window, and closes it with a sigh. She then changes into a tank top and shorts, and slides under the covers, falling fast asleep.

In the morning, her alarm wakes Santana up quickly, and she smirks. Today is the day that she'll take down the Twink. Or, at least, get evidence against him.

She quickly slides on her Cheerios uniform, but slides a second outfit into her bag for her little excursion. Then, she dashes across the hall to wake up the twins.

After school, Sebastian leads the Warblers into one of their practice rooms, it's time to prepare songs to crush the New Directions. They just enter the room, filled with concentric circles of ugly yellow chairs, when Sebastian hears a voice. A smooth, demanding voice. Calling him something other than his name. Santana. Sebastian blinks repeatedly to ingrain this image in his head. She's dressed in something other than her fantastic Cheerios uniform, she has on a black mini-dress, black blazer, fedora, and black heels. Her hair is loose, and slightly curly around her shoulders. Frankly, she looks really hot.

"Hey Andrew McCarthy. I don't know if you heard, but Blaine may lose an eye, the same Blaine that was just besties with most of you, not 4 months ago," Santana snaps.

"A-are you serious? Is he going to be ok?" Santana's hard expression softens a fraction of a degree at Trent. This isn't meant for him, she doesn't blame him. THis if for Twink alone.

"Sure. If he doesn't care about seeing in three dimensions."

"Trent, I got this," Sebastian interrupts, much to Santana's amusement. She expected as much. This is going well. "Bummer, about Blaine, he was pretty. But he shouldn't have gotten in the way though, that slushie was meant for Kurt." Lies. Sebastian didn't exactly want to tell the intense Latina that the drink was actually meant for her girlfriend. He figured that it wasn't a very good idea.

"You may look like the villian out of a cheesy, 80's high school movie, but just so you know, I am fully prepared to go all Danny Larusso on your ass." Santana steps closer, surprising Sebastian, but he honestly doesn't mind. "What did you put in that slushie? What was it, huh? Glass? Asphalt?"

"Red dye number 6," Sebastian answers smoothly, stepping closer to the Latina. Two can play at this game.

"You're a liar," Santana spits venomously. Sebastian raises his eyebrows at her audacity, and turns to glance at the Warblers behind him.

"She questioned my honor." He turns back to Santana. "I demand satisfaction in Warbler tradition." Sebastian is thankful that he added the last part. Otherwise that could have gone downhill _very_ fast.

¨You want to have a duel?" Santana mocks. Sebastian has to admit, that wasn't exactly what he had in mind. She rolls her eyes and looks to where the musicians are exiting the room. "Cello guys, hang back a sec, I'mma need you for this one." Santana has a mischievous, slightly evil glint in her eyes as she turns back to Sebastian.

"Everyone else, clear out. Don't want you to see me make a girl cry," Sebastian said, smirking. The Warblers dutifully leave, and Santana turns.

"Let's just keep this on point," she says. SHe then struts over to the innermost ring of chairs, and sits, crossing her legs, making her dress slide up her perfectly tanned skin even farther, and Sebastian can't help but stare a bit. He's honestly getting a bit more nervous. The cellos start playing an intense melody, and Sebastian narrows his eyes, moving towards the inner circle of chairs. It's on.

The _Smooth Criminal_ battle is intense, fiery. Both their voices suit the song, and each other, when they merge, both singers feel tingles down their spine. Sebastian calls out to Santana, hoping that she's just as turned on as he is. Sebastian circles the chairs to start, running his hand softly, teasingly, over Santana's shoulder if only just to touch her and feel the fabric of her blazer, making her jerk her head up. She then stands, and a game of cat and mouse emerges, Sebastian trying in vain to get closer to Santana, and Santana moving away smoothly and gracefully, despite the sexual tension the song inspires. When Sebastian gets particularly close one time, Santana uses his tie to spin herself around. When she pushes him away, he's positive that his heart rate sped up. Santana starts to move in the direction of the door, and Sebastian thinks _Not now. Nuh uh. _She can't leave. He won't let her. So, he follows after her, quicker than before.

After coming face to face at the end of the second chorus, they both move in opposite directions, Sebastian glancing over every other second to check her position. Then, at the peak of the song, Santana opens her mouth, and belts out a winning note, letting it loose, flying around the room, capturing every sensation in Sebastian's body, both of them already knowing the winner of the duel. Sebastian can't take his eyes off of her; everything right now is Santana.

After that, it's fleeting tingles, desperate chasing after Santana, teasing touches pushing Sebastian away, subtle harmonies, and closing notes until the room comes to a silent standstill, singers inches from each other, both breathing heavily, both glaring at the other.

**A/N: Beware, next chapter gets a little more mature. I hope it's ok.**


	6. Aftermath

"I was better," Santana says, matter-of-factly, and Sebastian can't help but smile. Even though she was, Sebastian still has his reputation to uphold.

"You weren't even close."

"I was better! Now tell me the truth, what did you put in that slushie?!" she exclaims. The cello guys, sensing danger, quickly scuttle out, closing the doors behind them. Sebastian rolls his eyes.

"Rock salt." Santana couldn't believe her ears.

"You put rock salt in the slushie?" she asks, still not believing that _Sebastian Smythe_ is confessing to something.

"Yep." Before she can react, like yelling at the jerk for instance, he steps forwards, closing the already small gap in between them, sinking his mouth onto hers in a gentle, yet fiery and passionate kiss, and he moves his hand behind her head to keep her there. Gasping into the unexpected, yet not unpleasant kiss, Santana's mind turns blank for a second. She can't register what's happening, and why it's sending so many freaking sparks through her. She jerks back to reality when she feels Sebastian softly biting her lower lip, asking, begging, for entrance. She shakes her head, steps back, and before he can say anything, raises her hand, and brings it swiftly across his face, making him step back at the shock of pain.

"What the hell was that?!" she yells. Sebastian regains his composure, and smirks at her.

"That was a pretty damn amazing kiss, if i do say so myself. And I think you agree with me."

"Of course not! And what makes you think that you can just come up out of the blue, and-"

"Kiss you?" Sebastian asks, smirking. Santana glares at him. She is angry with him for touching her, kissing her even, without her consent, but she can't deny that she didn't hate it. Sebastian isn't bad at it, for sure. Shaking these thoughts out of her head she sends daggers shooting from her eyes at Sebastian.

"Exactly. Plus, I'm a lesbian. And I thought you were a gay bastard?" she sneers. Sebastian shrugs mischievously.

"You never know what I am. Plus, I could easily go for someone as hot as you." Santana rolls her eyes, glaring. Sebastian is surprised at how well this is going. He didn't plan on kissing her, but they were so close to each other, and there was so much sexual tension in the air, he couldn't help it. He half-expected her to go all Lima Heights on him. His other half was hoping for something . . . different.

Santana isn't sure why she's not going all Lima Heights right now. He kissed her! She hates him! No sort of permission was given! But, somehow, somewhere inside of her, she realizes, is a part of her that liked the taste and feeling of Sebastian's lips on hers. It feels different from Brittany, and she hasn't felt sparks like that in . . . a while. _But he's a guy!_ Santana reminds herself of this as she casually steps backwards, putting more space in between her and Sebastian.

"Keep dreaming, Twink. The day I'm turned on by you and your sad prep school boy look is the day that Blaine stops gelling his hair." Sebastian smiles a bit at her comparison.

"I find it hard to believe that you're not attracted to me." Santana rolls her eyes and scoffs.

"Do you need me to list why I'm NOT turned on by you? Let's just go with an alarming lack of dignity, morals, feelings, balls, and, oh yeah. A vagina. I'm a lesbian, bitch, i won't say it again, and I love my girlfriend, so _adios._" With that, Santana turns on her heel, and struts towards the door, leaving Sebastian gaping after her. He regains himself after Santana's serve, and chases after her. She's almost reaches the door before he reaches her, and pins her smoothly against the wall.

He sees her cheeks flush, and feels her breath and heartbeat quicken. She actually does want him. He smirks, and she glares.

"Brittany doesn't have to know." With that, he sinks his mouth on hers again, and this time, Santana is feeling too many things to push him away. The sparks from the kiss light her on fire, her skin is burning from the intensity and fireworks of the kiss. She really shouldn't be doing this, but she can't deny that she likes this. A lot. It's so much more . . . fiery. Passionate. Energetic. Brittany is much too sweet, soft, and gentle. This is the opposite, and she's missed this. Kissing Brittany has become boring, almost a routine that she does mindlessly and emotionlessly. This . . . This is everything Brittany's not. And Santana can't help but like it.

So she doesn't mind when she feels Sebastian biting again at her lip, harder this time, he needs this, so she opens her mouth, and their tongues meet, battling for dominance, twisting together, similar to their duet. Santana's hands have wound their way around Sebastian's neck, tangling in his hair and keeping them together, and his are around her waist, pulling her against him in every way possible.

Once they run out of air, Sebastian quickly moves his mouth down to Santana's gorgeous neck, kissing at first, until he hears a small moan in her throat when he moves behind her ear, so he bites down, hard, and Santana moans in pleasure. How did he find her weak spot already? It had taken weeks for Brittany to find it on her own. He bites again, eliciting the same reaction, and Sebastian smirks against her skin. Santana seizes this as an opportunity to take control, so she slides down farther, and moves her mouth to his neck. Her eyes scan his tan skin for a second, and her eyes light up. She spots a small spot of soft flesh a bit behind his ear, and doesn't hesitate biting down on that spot, making Sebastian growl in pleasure.

This girl is _good_. She found his weak spot on the first attack. She sucks and bites a few times, then nibbles on the lobe of his ear for a minute, before, using her hands to shed his blazer, and kisses his upper neck as she undoes his tie. Sebastian does nothing to stop her, he's too focused on where her mouth is, and his hands sliding around her waist, stroking the smooth fabric of the dress. It takes all of his self-control not to rip the dress of her and take her right there, right then.

Santana pushes fabric aside, giving her open access to his collarbone, a decidedly less obvious spot for bites. She sucks on the sensitive skin, and Sebastian moans in delight. His hands make their way around to her ass, and he takes control again, his mouth going to her collarbone, one hand pushing her blazer off, leaving it crumpled on the floor. Sebastian feels Santana tense, he knows what she wants. But he's the one in control here. He moves his mouth up to her neck again, and whispers seductively in her ear.

"What do you need, Satan?" She moans as he bites down again, and moves her lips back onto his again.

"Need to jump. Need you to carry me, Sebastian," she groans against his mouth. The mention of his name stops him from teasing any further, he wants this just as much as she does. She jumps, and he follows her up, holding her up as her legs wind around his waist. He wants the taste of her lips again, badly, so he presses his mouth against her hungrily, she obliges, and she ravishes against the wall and against his lips. Finally, they're both done, and she drops to the ground, and they both gather their jackets, taking small effort to hide their hickeys.

Santana hopes to leave without another word, especially about what just happened, but sadly, luck isn't on her side today.

"Hey, Lopez," Sebastian calls as she approaches the door. She stiffens, and turns slowly, giving him an epic eye roll.

"Yes, Feivel?"

"Do this again sometime?" He smirks a her, knowing full well that she can't say no.

Angered by this new development, but inside loving it, she struts over to him, hands him a slip of paper, and exits the room. Sebastian looks at the paper, and smiles when he sees her phone number.

Once she leaves the room and closes the door, Santana slumps against the wall, leaning her head back. How could this happen? How could she do this to Brittany? How could cheating on her girlfriend feel so good? Not the cheating part, but kissing Sebastian . . . Santana can't say that she didn't like it. She felt more with him then, than she ever has with Brittany. _But Britt and I are supposed to be forever,_ Santana thinks. _Aren't I a lesbian? I _don't _like guys, but him. . . I don't know anything anymore._

She gets up, and uses side corridors to avoid other students, especially Warblers. She makes it to the parking lot, and scans it with her eyes, trying to remember how she got to Dalton. She sees her motorbike parked off to the side, and hurries over to it before anyone can see her. Straightening her outfit, she drives off towards her house. When Santana gets there, she prays that she doesn't run into Sebastian soon. She does.

On Tuesday, somehow, Santana and Sebastian wind up in the same room again, alone, kissing, just as passionately and animatedly as the last time. Santana had been quieter at school, around Brittany especially, she feels bad, and though everyone thinks that Brittany is stupid, she notices all of it with surprising precision. She let's it go, figuring that Santana's having an off day. She has noticed that their dating life has become . . . boring. They hardly ever meet up anymore, and Brittany can feel that they're drifting apart. _Maybe that's what Santana is feeling to_, Brittany thinks. She also can't help but notice Artie looking after her sadly when he thinks that she isn't looking.

The next few days are the same deal. Quieter Santana, Worried Brittany, Snarky Sebastian.

The next Thursday night, after dinner, putting the twins to bed, and dishes, Santana tells her family that she's going out, but winds up at Sebastian's house. In his room. They have sex again (their first time together was last Wednesday), and they both love it. Afterwards, though, they're both exhausted, so they sleep together for the first time. They start as far apart as they can get, but they wind up in each other's arms in the morning.

Cracking her eyes to adjust to the light, Santana is surprised to see that she's not in her room, and that she has a pair of comforting, toned arms wrapped around her. She turns her head a bit, and remembers last night, looking at Sebastian sleeping next to her. She squirms a bit, trying to loosen his grasp to try and get home as to not be late for school, but Sebastian is awake, and tightens his grip, not wanting to let go.

"Feivel . . . I have to get home . . . I have school . . . can't be late," Santana tries to get out, but Sebastian ignores her. She starts putting force behind it, but he pulls her closer against his chest. She starts to twist reluctantly, but, seeing the opportunity, Sebastian watches her hair slide off of her shoulder, and quickly attaches his mouth to her neck, sucking, nibbling, and kissing, knowing that she won't say no, making Santana stop struggling, and cueing a few moans. WHen she realizes that he isn't going to let her go, she turns in place, and lets his kiss her fully.

When he finally relents, Santana says goodbye, and climbs out the window, and back to her house. Both of them have become experts at sneaking in and out of the other person's house, even though they always meet up at Sebastian's house. Sebastian watches her go, and turns back to his room. He furrows his brow when he realizes that that was the first time that they actually slept together. And he really liked it.

As he goes to school, and sits in his classes, he randomly starts compiling a list of what he knows about Santana.

He realizes that he doesn't know much about the girl he's now infatuated with. He knows a bit about her family, she has two twin siblings, Andrea ane Mateo, her mother and father are Maribel and Santiago, and she lives with her grandmother, Alma. He knows that she likes to dance and sing. Duh. He knows that she cooks well. That's almost it. He realizes that he doesn't just like her as a fuckbuddy. That is weird to him. He never strays from the path. But somehow, that Lopez danced her way into his heart. He likes her. _Like_ likes her. She's funny, smart, fiery, caring (not to him yet), and it doesn't hurt that she's gorgeous. But, Sebastian knows that she still doesn't like him like that, so he'll settle with what he has. For now. So, he starts brainstorming ways to get Santana to be his.

Santana can see that Brittany has notice how off she's been, but she can't tell Brittany about Sebastian. It would kill her, and Santana would lose one of her best friends. So, for Thursday and Friday, she goes with a mix of attempting to act normal, and avoiding Brittany.

On the weekends, she works, like normal, on Saturday, and doesn't see Sebastian, and on Sunday, Quinn comes over, and hangs out with her and the twins. Sebastian is nowhere to be seen. Until after dinner, when he texts Santana to come over. She's reluctant, but after a few more sexts, she's convinced, and doesn't return until past midnight.

Monday night finds Santana sitting in her room, on her bed, relaxing after a long day of cheerleading, glee, housework, and a long science class. She's reading a mystery novel at around 8:30 when someone knocks on her door. She hopes it not her Mami. She and Papi have been fighting non-stop since the Smythe's visit, and it always makes her worried, sad, and guilty.

Her Papi pokes his head in, and Santana sees a couple suitcases out in the hall.

"Papi . . . no," she pleads, knowing what's coming. Santiago sees his beloved daughter on the edge of tears, so he rushes in, and hugs her tightly, sitting next to her on her bed.

"_Mi corazon, no_. It's not your fault. It's complicated. _Por favor, mi corazon. Se fuerte. Es bien_. Your _abuela_ and I are just moving to the other side of Lima. Not far at all."

"Can I come with you?" Santana begs, tears falling from her eyes as she clutches onto her Papi's shirt.

"No. Your Mami has custody of you and the twins. But please, visit me."

"Is-is this an official divorce?" Santana chokes. Santiago nods sadly.

"_Si, mi corazon,_ it is. Your Mami and I . . . we aren't working We never did. Never blame yourself for this. It's best for all of us." Santana didn't stop crying as Santiago stroked his precious daughter's back. "_Escuchame. Te amo, mi corazon. Te amo siempre._"

"_Te amo, _Papi," Santana says, trying to control her tears.

"Before I go, two things. One, would you break the news to Andrea and Mateo?" Santana nods solemnly. "You are by far the best with them. ANd, second, I have something for you." Santana reluctantly let's go of Santiago, and he gets up for a second, and hands her a large piece of cloth. Santana's eyes widen. "Yes. THis is my high school letterman jacket. I've kept it for years, until I gave it to . . . Anyways, I want you to have it. So I'll always be close to you, and so will he." Santana let a few more tears loose before jumping up, and hugging her father so tightly, she never wants to let go. But she does, and says _adios_ to her Papi as he leaves. Forever.

Santana whimpers, and clutches his jacket to her chest, the red and tan fabric soft to the touch. She runs her fingers along the number on the back. Number seven. It's always been her Papi's favorite number, and hers too. She runs her fingers lightly over the lettering on the back as well, over the name "Lopez". She slides the jacket on, it only being a bit big for her, and lies down, trying to keep herself stoic.

Sebastian goes upstairs after dinner feeling kinda horny. Well, actually, he misses Santana, but that's his reasoning behind it. SO, he texts her to come over, and frowns when she replies,

[Santana]

_Not tonight. Don't feel good._

[Sebastian]

_So maybe I can help you feel better._

[Santana]

_Doubt it._

[Sebastian]

_Come over, and I'll work my magic. ;)_

[Santana]

_. . . Fine._

Sebastian pumps his fist in victory, and a few seconds, later, Santana is sliding in gracefully from the window.

"Hey." Sebastian is a bit confused at her unnaturally stoic attitude, but dismisses it as he goes over to her. After a few seconds, though, he brings back the thought.

"What's up with you today?" he asks, annoyed at her flat expression, and bored behavior. Santana shrugs.

"Not feeling it today."

"Well, then, I guess you should go, then," Sebastian says, seeing that if she isn't interested, there's no point, since she doesn't like him. Santana shrugs again, and leaves. When she gets back to hr room, Santana sighs. She can't bring herself to do anything with Sebastian, she feels too horrible. She normally likes hanging out (read: screwing around) with Sebastian, but not now. She knows her Papi told her that is isn't her fault, but she can't help but feel that it is. They were fighting about her. SO, Santana changes into a loose tank and shorts, slides on her Papi's jacket, and curls up on her bed, thinking.

Him. Papi gave this to him before her. He's with her too. Diego. Diego Alejandro Lopez. Santana's older brother. Diego was Santana's best friend (besides Puck), her was her confidante, her supporter, her everything. She loved him so much, he was three years older than her. They shared everything with each other, until Santana was 13, until the day of the bus accident. He was on his way downtown, when the bus he was riding swerved to avoid a drunk driver, and hit a wall. Three were killed in the accident, most just injured. Almost everyone survived. Diego was one of the three who died. He was only 16. When news spread back to Santana, she locked herself in her room, and cried for two days, until her Papi finally got her out.

She had always tended to favor the men of the family. Her Papi was her favorite, she was a daddy's girl, and proud. Ahd her brother . . . he was her everything. That same year, the twins were born. Compensation from God, her _abuela_ said. Santana knew there could be nothing to make up for Diego's death. She loves the twins, but it'll always be different, and when they are older, they'll get to know about their older brother that they never met.

When it happened, they decided to donate most of Diego's things, most of them were generic objects, but a few things were kept. Her Papi's jacket, which he passed down to him, was reclaimed by Santiago. Her Mami kept photos. Santana kept a few of his favorite flannel shirts, and a thick red journal. This was the journal that they wrote all of their conversations and problems in. Their book of precedents. Diego wanted to be a lawyer, so to practice, he recorded all of their talks, like a court case. So they could keep track of all their memories and hard times, and lessons learned. Santana still keeps it hidden in her desk, and occasionally takes it out to read. She wears the shirts, though. On casual days in the fall, the shirts fit her, so she wears them, they are soft, cozy, and remind her that he will always be with her.

Santana misses them both so much. Already. She misses just the thought of her Papi being a few doors down, ready to hug her, and tell her that everything will be ok. And Abuela will move out of Diego's old room. Silently willing the tears not to fall, Santana drifts off slowly, into a deep, dreamless, restless, sleep.

The next morning, Tuesday, Santana reminds herself, she wakes up with an ache in her chest, and she remembers that her Papi is gone. Not forever, but he's isn't right there anymore. Like he always has been. Santana gets dressed quickly, and goes to the twins' room. She wakes them up, and while they are downstairs, tells them gently about Papi. She phrases it in a way that they'll understand, Papi is moving to another house with Abuela, they'll still visit him, and he's still their Papi.

Today, she takes her motorcycle, but she texts Puck, sadly, to bring 100 dollars. He immediately replies with asking if she's feeling ok, and if she wants to skip school today. She responds no, and drives off to McKinley. She meets Puck by their lockers and he hugs her. She's doing a very good job of keeping up her normal pretense, she's bitchy to everyone else, and keeps her head high.

But one Brittany S. Pierce notices the sadness in her eyes. This is the kind of thing you know from being best friends since middle school. She watches as Puck approaches Santana. He hands her money, 100 dollars, from what she can see, and Brittany smiles, thinking that Santana won another bet (they bet a lot), but when he hands it to her, she looks like she's about to cry. Puck hugs her, and tells her that everything will work out. Brittany frowns, and goes over to them.

Puck let's go quickly, and Santana quickly puts on a smile for Brittany.

"Hey Britt-Britt."

"Hi Tana. You ok?" Santana looks down, and shakes her head. She'll tell Brittany.

"My, um, my parents divorced. Papi moved out last night with ABuela. Puck had tried to make me feel better with a bet, but . . ."

"Oh, San!" Brittany quickly hugs, her best friend, and girlfriend (ish), and Santana accepts it. After, they say goodbye to Puck, and head to their first class.

That day, after school, Santana was feeling a little better. Cheerios practice went well, taking into account Coach Sue's normal pessimistic harsh views, and Quinn, Brittany and Santana went to the Lima Bean for lunch, and had a bit of girl time. That helped Santana feel more normal. A few things were still gnawing at her conscience, though. Papi leaving. Diego's death. Last night resurfaced all the memories, and they haunt her. And Sebastian. Cheating on Brittany. At least her friends don't notice, or at least, don't mention anything.

After school, Santana walks into glee club, and the room immediately quiets a bit. She brushes this off, and sits in her normal seat in the back of the room, next to Puck and Brittany.

"Ok guys!" Mr Schuester says cheerily, walking into the room, music in hand. "This week, to start preparing for Regionals, this week is dedicated to an album by one of the biggest pop, rock, soul boy bands of all time!" Everyone starts calling out names.

"One Direction! Harry Styles is the bomb!"

"One Republic!"

"Backstreet Boys!"

"Beatles!"

"N'Sync! JT for da win!"

"Jackson 5!" Everyone stares at Brittany. "Right. We already did them. Oops!"

"Better," Mr. Schue says. "Maroon 5!" Everyone explodes into cheers, and Santana joins them. She likes Maroon 5's music, and Adam Levine's vocals are _sick_. "This week: Overexposed!" Everyone immediately breaks off, discussing which songs they are going to do.

After glee practice is over, Santana runs quickly out to the hall, and into the bathroom to wait until everyone else has left. Then, she darts to the auditorium. She sets her bag down, and snaps her fingers, cueing music. This week has the perfect song. All day, the only thing she can think and feel is crushing guilt. Brittany has been nothing but perfect to her, and Santana repays her by sleeping with the enemy. Literally. So, she decides to follow the glee clubs usual style, and sing about it. And she has the perfect song.

Santana takes center stage, and clutches the mic in one hand, listening to the familiar introduction.

[Santana]

_You and I go hard_

_At each other like we're going to war_

_You and I go rough_

_We keep throwing things and slamming the door_

_You and I get so_

_Damn dysfunctional we stop keeping score_

_You and I get sick_

_And I know that we can't do this no more_

_But baby there you go again there you go again_

_Making me love you-ou_

_And I stop using my head, using my head_

_Let it all go, ooh ooh_

_And you stuck on my body, on my body,_

_Like a tattoo, ooh ooh_

_And now i'm feeling' stupid, feeling stupid_

_Crawling' back to you-ou_

Santana rockets into the chorus, and spins around, dancing a bit to the music, making use of the stage, the light fading to warm tones, red, oranges, and yellows.

[Santana]

_SO I cross my heart_

_And I hope to die_

_That I'll only stay with you one more night_

_And I know I said it_

_A million times_

_Yeah I'll only stay with you one more night_

She moves smoothly through the song, promising to herself that that was the last night.

[Santana]

_Try to tell you no_

_But my body keeps on telling you yes_

_Try to tell you stop_

_But your kisses got me so out of breath_

_I'll be waking up_

_In the morning probably hating myself_

_But I'll be waking up_

_Feeling satisfied but guilty as hell_

The song sums up Santana's feelings perfectly, adjusting they lyrics only to fit the genders. She repeats the bridge and chorus, and wraps up the song, happy with herself, but not feeling any better. But, she does know what she has to do. She grabs her bag once the music fades, satisfied with her song choice for the week, and heads out of the auditorium, and into the hall.

As she nears the main doors, a hand grabs her arm firmly, and tugs her gently into the nearest storage closet. SHe sighs. Sebastian. He's been waiting after school some days, and today was probably the perfect opportunity.

He'd seen her performance in the auditorium, and it was amazing, per usual, but it made him a bit nervous. Nervous that she'd leave him. He really likes spending time with her, even if they don't talk. So, he decided to seize the moment to make sure that she stays. He leads her into the closet (ironic, seeing as they both thought they were gay), and presses her against the wall. Santana opens her mouth to speak, but he quickly crushes his mouth on hers, and before she can close it, moves his tongue into her mouth. She grunts, and he smirks against her lips.

When Sebastian moves his mouth off of hers, and onto her neck, Santana steels herself. THis is eating away at her from inside, and she can't do it anymore.

"No," Santana says. "Stop."

Hearing her, Sebastian pulls away, and looks at her, confused. Did she say what he thinks she said? Santana rolls her eyes at his reaction. Has no one ever told him 'no' before?

"What?" Sebastian asks, trying to make sure he heard her correctly. This is what he's been afraid of. Is her ditzy blonde better then him?

"I'm not doing this anymore. I can't . . . I can't cheat on Brittany like this."

"Why?" Sebastian asks, getting angry. He doesn't know why, exactly, but he knows that he doesn't want her to go. He doesn't want to stop. "Is that stupid blonde fucking you better than I am?"

"Don't call her stupid!" Santana snaps. SHe may not be exactly in love with Brittany anymore, she doesn't exactly know, but she's still one of her best friends. He is not allowed to call her stupid. She's not. She's one of the most observant people Santana knows. She might not be amazing at math, or anything, but she's a genius at heart. It makes her sick that no one besides her, Puck and QUinn see that.

"It's not my fault she can't do anything without help. Do you have to tell her how to fuck you? I know how to fuck you, better than she can, and you're choosing her?" Sebastian snaps back. "If you're so in love with her, why did you keep coming over, huh? Has she ever met your family?" Santana's eyes sting with angry tears.

"I always go to her house. She's met them though."

"Why do you always leave you house to fuck, huh? Does your _loving family_ not want you around?" Sebastian sneers.

That is it. He's gone too far. He might be able with just calling Brittany stupid once, but full on insulting her like that? Not ok. ANd he is not allowed to make any comments about her family. He knows nothing about her, and she's keeping it that way.

Sebastian realizes that he might have gone a bit far, but he stands strong.

Santana pushes him roughly away from her, and slaps him hard across the face. Time for some Lima Heights Hospitality.

He's holding his face, must not be used to getting slapped. He'll need to toughen up if he plans to spend time in West Lima Heights alone. So, Santana decides to teach him a lesson. You don't mess with her family, including Brittany. She swings a solid punch straight to Sebastian's jaw, and he falls to the ground with the force of the impact. Yep, that'll leave a bruise.

She kicks him once, in the leg, not too hard, but he gets the message. Then, tears still in her eyes, she runs out of the closet, leaving Sebastian on the ground holding his face, trying to figure out why he got mad, and how to fix this.

Santana grabs her bag from where she dropped it, and runs outside, and hops on her bike, ooming off to the Lima Bean. She needs something to soothe her emotions.

She's furious, Sebastian can not insult Brittany like that, she isn't going to let him get away with that. She was reminded about her family, and that makes her miserable. She also knows her relationship with Brittany is slightly on the rocks, but he doesn't have to wave it in her face. And the worst thing is, she started to actually kinda like Sebastian in their time together.

Sure, it was fiery and intense, like them, but he didn't insult her, and she saw a nice side to him, that she liked. Apparently, that isn't his actual self. He must have been pretending. It still hurts, though.

She quickly orders a coffee, and luckily, they have her favorite dessert in stock, chocolate old-fashioned glazed donuts. She orders one as well, and sits in the window seat with her food.

She debates texting Puck, Quinn, or Brittany, but she decides to let this all sink in first. She takes a deep breath, and looks out the window at the darkening sky.

"Hi. Are you ok?" She whips her head around at the smooth voice to see a boy, around her age, looking at her, slightly concerned. He has sandy brown hair, light brown eyes, and a tall, athletic, sturdy build. She relaxes when she doesn't recognize the person, and nods.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just school drama." He smiles, and cocks his head towards the seat across from her, asking to sit down. She nods, and he smiles and sit, placing his coffee on the table.

"I get that. Teenagers these days." He smiles at her, and she chuckles a bit. "I'm Hunter. Hunter Clarington. I go to Dalton Academy." Santana smirks, casting an eye over his navy and red blazer.

"I couldn't tell. I'm Santana Lopez. I go to McKinley." He quirks an eyebrow, and smirks back at her.

"I couldn't tell," he says, imitating her and looking at her Cheerios uniform. They both laugh, and Santana smiles at him.

"So, what brings you to Lima from your prep-school?" Hunter shrugs.

"The coffee here is so much better. You?"

"One, I agree. Two, just for a little escape. Three, these are my favorite dessert ever," Santana lists, pointing to her donut.

"Nice. Good taste. I love those too."

"You want half?" Santana offers, assuming that he's going to say no. She finds it annoying when people mention that they like things, but when people offer to share, they refuse, like it'll seem piggish if they accept. But, Hunter just grins.

"Definitely." Santana breaks the cake in half, and hands it to him. They grin at each other, and clink their treats together, and take a bite simultaneously. "Mmm. These really are the best," Hunter says, wiping a few crumbs off of his face with the back of his hand. Santana nods in agreement. She checks the time, and frowns.

"I'm really sorry, but my Mami wants me home. Nice meeting you Hunter. Maybe I'll run into you at Dalton sometime."

"You visit?"

"My cousin goes there too."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I visit a fair amount. Maybe I'll see you around."

"I hope so. Could I get your number? Maybe you could text me next time you visit Westerville," Hunter suggests. Santana smiles at the suggestion, and they trade phones for a second, putting their numbers in the others phone.

They both exit the coffee shop, and wave to each other as they pull out, not before Hunter compliments Santana's sweet ride.

At McKinley, Sebastian's head hurts. Santana has a good arm. He should have expected this, but _damn_. He knows he went too far, and now he's scared he lost her forever. He knows the worst thing he can do is to run to her and try to apologize. He knows that she needs some space. He stand up, and steadies himself against the wall when his head spins. He leaves the closet, and heads out to the parking lot, where, as expected, Santana's bike is missing from. He sighs, and gets in his car and drives back to Lima Heights.

It's not the shortest drive, but it seems like he gets home quicker than usual. He parks his car, and isn't exactly surprised to see that Santana's bike is still missing. He hops out, and heads inside, where his parents are nowhere to be seen. He goes to the office, and finds them unpacking stuff in there. He smiles, and dashes upstairs, changes, and grabs his music, and comes back down, helping his parents unpack to get his mind off of Santana.

**A/N: Again, so sorry if my Spanish isn't accurate. I might be bringing in another side plot, so I hope ****y'all**** like it.**


	7. La Diabla at Dalton

Santana pulls up to her house, and wheels her bike off the street. She does notice that Sebastian's car is here, but she pushes it out of her mind as she heads inside. Andrea and Mateo greet her, and Santana is glad she met Hunter at the Lima Bean, if she hadn't, she would be in no state to entertain two crazy kids. Maribel comes into the living room at the sound, and stands there awkwardly, not looking at her kids, not sure what to say to Santana.

"We all know," Santana says. Maribel looks up at her.

"Yes. I know. Despite that, thing will remain the same, ok?" Santana nods, and understands that she'll be working just as hard, if not harder, while her mom emails her friends and "works". Santana sighs, and her mom disappears into the house. Papi moving away means two less people to help care for the twins. But, today, instead of playing, they sit on the couch on either side of Santana.

"Tana?" Andrea asks. "We'll try to be better for you. We promise."

"Yeah. You work really hard, we'll be good, Tana." Mateo says. Santana's eyes well up, happy tears this time, and hugs them both. Then, they go into the kitchen, and Santana decides to try to teach them to cook. She decides on _quesadillas_, they're easy and delicious. She walks them through the steps, ans smiles when she sees them rapt with attention. Like her when Abuela taught her how to cook. She lets Andrea take a turn chopping green onion, and shows Mateo how to cook and cut pork to go in the tortilla. She then sits them on the counter to watch her assemble them in the frying pan.

When she finishes, she calls her Mami to the table, and promises the twins that they can help more next time. Maribel is surprised at how excited the twins seem about cooking, and compliments all three of her children on the great meal.

After dinner, the twins go right upstairs, and Santana smiles when she sees them ready for bed after she finishes the dishes. She tucks them in, and is very happy with the twins newfound independence. They still ask her to sing, and she obliges happily.

"Which song?"

"Can you do _This Love_?" Andrea asks. Santana nods, and pulls up the backtrack on her phone.

[Santana]  
_Clear blue water  
High tide came and brought you in  
And I could go on and on, on and on  
And I will  
Skies grew darker  
Currents swept you out again  
And you were just gone and gone, gone and gone_  
The twins close their eyes and listen peacefully to their big sister's soothing voice.  
_In silent screams and wildest dreams  
I never dreamed of this_

Santana glides smoothly into the chorus, trying to let all of her negative emotions go in the song.  
_This love is good, this love is bad  
This love is alive back from the dead, oh-oh, oh  
These hands had to let it go free, and  
This love came back to me, oh-oh, oh  
Oh-oh, oh, oh-oh, oh_  
Santana sings the next verse, and sees the twins starting to get sleepy. She smiles. She goes through the chorus, and post-chorus, and belts out the bridge.  
_Your kiss, my cheek  
I watched you leave  
Your smile, my ghost  
I fell to my knees  
When you're young, you just run  
But you come back to what you need_  
Santana sings the chorus and post chorus one more time, and by the time she finishes the song, both of the twins are fast asleep. She smiles, kisses them both lightly on the forehead, and shuts off the lights, closing the door softly behind her. She then makes her way across the hall to her room, and shuts the door behind her. She goes to her desk, and pulls out her and Diego's journal. Even though it's stupid, Santana still writes down her problems, or conversation topics they would have had in the journal, to keep herself connected to him.

After writing down the day's events, she hides the journal again, and makes a mental note to visit Jeff tomorrow. The last time they spoke was when they called to see what happened to Blaine, and she wants to update him on . . . stuff. Plus, she'll also get to see Nick, Thad, and Trent. Hopefully she won't see Sebastian. Maybe she'll run into Hunter too. You never know. So, with that, Santana slides under her covers, and drifts into a deep sleep.

The next day, Santana acts even stranger than before. Brittany is getting concerned, Santana is hardly speaking to anybody, and she isn't snapping or insulting anybody. This isn't like her at all. So, during lunch, Brittany calls an emergency meeting of the glee club in the auditorium.

The New Directions are confused. Ish. Brittany called a meeting with them, since they are like family. She tells them that Santana has been acting weirdly quiet. When they don't know what's up, Brittany, Quinn, and Puck leave, off to find Santana, leaving the rest of the glee clubbers behind.

"Who cares if Satan is quiet? It's nice not getting insulted every second," Mercedes says, making everyone chuckle.

"Yeah, I hope whatever's going on stays like this. It's like a breath of fresh air, not being constantly assaulted by her bitching," Kurt says.

"I wonder what is really going on . . ." Tina muses.

"I know! One of her sexual partners said no," Finn jokes, making everyone laugh.

"Yeah, seriously. The only reason she's popular is because she'll open her legs for anyone who asks," Sam quips.

"Totally! Maybe she'll just leave us alone for now," Mike adds.

"Seriously. Best. Present. Ever!" Artie agrees. "And it's not like she's a complete bitch/slut/whore trifecta-" He's cut off by everyone laughing, including himself.

"That's exactly her. You can't even say she's not without laughing, it's so true. She's desperate for attention. Such a needy whore," Sam says. "When we were 'together', which we never really were, all she did was insult me, and demand for me to fuck her. Such a slut."

"The best glee club days are when she's not there," Rory says. "All she does is call me a potato." Everyone laughs.

"That's because she's jealous that she has no friends," Blaine adds, with a high five from Kurt.

"She always goes on and on about how I'll never end up on Broadway, but the only job she'll have is on a pole. At least I won't be reduced to being a stripper," Rachel sneers.

"And, she couldn't even get that confession from Sebastian properly. She probably stank at the duel, and was so embarrassed that she destroyed the recording," Mike adds.

"I don't know why Quinn, Puck and Brittany tolerate her," Mercedes wonders aloud.

"Probably because they feel sorry for her. But they don't have to. They'd be cooler without Satan dragging them to the bitch-pits. Plus, she has her fellow sex addicts to keep her company," Kurt suggests.

Then, everyone burst out laughing, and then decide to head back to the lunchroom for the last 20 minutes of lunch break. What they don't know is that a certain Latina heard every word, hiding in the wings, her phone open, recording the conversation, tears streaming from her eyes.

When they leave, she shuts her phone, still crying, and dashes to the nearest bathroom, and luckily, no one saw her. She splashes water on her face to remove the small amount of makeup, ruined by the salty tears. She cleans up, and heads out, and avoids people for the rest of the day, until the bell rings, when she dashes out to the parking lot. She doesn't care if she skips glee. They hate her, anyways. They won't mind. They'll probably celebrate.

She slides on her bike, and takes off towards Dalton. Their school day ends sooner than hers, so if her timing is right, which it is, she'll get there with ten minutes left in Warbler practice. She doesn't mind, she'll quit tomorrow anyways. Maybe she can get the Warblers some info. No, then they'll just add traitor and Benedict Arnold to her long list of insults.

She pulls smoothly into the Dalton parking lot, and hops off, and goes inside. There is a large mob of boys in the hall, but seeing her coming, they all clear to the side, letting her go where she needs to. These boys all know who they're dealing with.

Hunter is in the middle of the hall, talking to one of his friends from the soccer team when his teammate suddenly grips his arm and pulls his to the side.

"What's wrong?" Hunter asks. Travis' eyes are wide, and he's looking behind Hunter.

"She's here."

"Who?"

"La Diabla. The Devil. Oh, right, you're new. Um, just don't cross her. Her cousin goes here, and you don't want to get on her bad side, I warn you. Randy made that mistake once. He was out of school for at least a week." Hunter's eyes widen. This girl seems insane. So, he goes with it, and leans against the lockers, and looks to where the other boys are scrambling out of the way. Then, he grins. He straightens, and walks confidently down the center of the hall, making all the boys in the hall gasp. He hears other boys whispering to Travis.

"Does he have a death wish?" Travis looks on wistfully at his about-to-be-dead teammate.

"I didn't think so. I warned him, i really tried. We'll miss him. New kid mistakes." Hunter rolls his eyes at them, and walks down the hall, to where Santana is casually strutting down the hall in a very short cheerleaders uniform. Nice. He approaches her, and they both can hear all the boys in the hall hold their breath.

Santana is happy with the reaction Hunter is getting from the boys. She respects that. Impressive. She smirks, and struts up to Hunter, who's waiting for her. He smiles, she returns the look. He then turns, looping his arm through hers at her silent invitation, and walks with her down the hall, making all the boys marvel at his health after touching and walking with Santana. He escorts her to a separate hall, and they both hear all the boys whispering about supposed "magic powers", making both of them smirk.

"Impressive. You really have all of them afraid of you?" Hunter asks as they walk, keeping his arm through hers.

"Yep. It was easy. You just need one to defy you, teach them a lesson, and the rest will fall in line. Well done to yourself. I do love a good dramatic meeting." Hunter nods.

"Where are we off to, m'lady?" She smiles at his grand gesture, and plays along.

"Warbler commons, good sir." Hunter raises his eyebrows.

"Your cousin is a Warbler?" Santana nods. "I've always wanted to join them. I sang a bit at my old school, and it seems like a lot of fun."

"Yeah, you'd be competing against my school's glee club, but I wouldn't worry too much." She winks at him, and pushes through the doors.

In the room, the Warblers are singing, per usual, but it seems like they just started the song. From what Santana knows, the song is _Lucky Strike_, by Maroon 5. Coincidentally, from the same album that they're studying in glee this week. Sebastian starts to sing, and Santana winces internally. He is the Captain, and the lead soloist, and his voice is amazing, but hearing him, seeing him reminds her of yesterday. Bad memories.

[Sebastian]

_You're such a motivator, gotta get you here_

_So sick of saying yes sir, yes sir_

_You're such an instigator, you wanna play the game_

_Take it or leave it, that's her, that's her_

As he sings, Santana and Hunter sneak over to the couches, and sit down, listening to the boys' harmonies. It's impressive, what they do.

_But I can't wait another minute_

_I can't take the looks she's giving_

_Your body rocking, keep me up all night_

_One in a million, my lucky strike_

Hunter and Santana exchange looks, the Warblers are really good. Santana can see that Hunter wants to join them, it seems to her like he has music in him, and she can imagine him in the Warblers.

_Got me so high and then she dropped me_

_But she got me, she got me, she got me bad_

_Took me inside and then she rocked me_

_She keep me up all night, this is what it sounds like_

_(Oh) My lucky strike_

_(Oh) My lucky strike_

_(Oh) Your body rocking, keep me up all night_

_(Oh) One in a million, my lucky strike_

The Warblers move into a dancing formation, and Santana mentally takes note of their dancing style and moves. She likes choreographing, but the New Directions never let her, and they haven't even seen her dance. So, in her spare time, which isn't much, and when she wants to, she choreographs and arranges songs in secret for the Warblers. She has a playlist with the songs, and a file with the music and arrangements for their acapella stuff. She doesn't need anything for the dancing. She remembers the moves easily, anyways.

_Stuck in her elevator, she takes me to the sky_

_And I don't wanna go down, go down_

_She said I'll feel you later, go ahead and fantasize_

_She makes me wanna right now, right now_

_But I can't wait another minute_

_I can't take the looks she's giving_

_Your body rocking, keep me up all night_

_One in a million, my lucky strike_

The boys dance into the chorus again, and Santana takes notes in her mind as Hunter watches in awe. These guys are really good. He wishes he could join them, he sang in the chow choir at his old school, he knows a thing or two, but be doubts that they'll let him. They're probably full, and they're so much better than him. Plus, if they still have spaces, he bets he's not the only one that wants one, and they wouldn't just accept the new kid. That's not how life works.

The boys wrap up the song, and Santana and Hunter stand and applaud. This draws the attention of the boys, who were just high fiving each other, and four of hem share grins, and go over to the two. Santana hugs, Jeff, Nick, Thad and Trent, and waves to the rest of them. Well, except Sebastian. She doesn't want to talk to him. And, he's over in the corner getting water anyways.

"Hey, Satan! Nice to see you around, it's been a while. What brings you by?" Nick asks. Santana shrugs. Hunter raises an eyebrow at the nickname.

"Felt like it. Plus, I haven't seen you jokers in a while, so I figured, why not?" Nick accepts the answer, and then turns to Hunter.

"I don't think I know you. Are you new?" Hunter nods.

"Yep. Transferred two weeks ago. Hunter Clarington." He extends a hand, and Nick shakes it firmly, smiling at him.

"Nick Duval. This is Jeff, Thad and Trent. I assume you know about the Warblers?" Hunter nods.

"Yeah. You guys were awesome in that song. You have Regionals coming up?" Hunter asks Jeff. Jeff nods, going over next to Santana and looping an arm around her shoulders, which doesn't go unnoticed by Hunter.

"Yeah. In a few weeks." The boys ask Jeff with glances as to how he knows Hunter, since he seems very familiar with him. "He's on the soccer team with me." THey nod in understanding, and Santana speaks up.

"So, cuz, do you have anything you want to do, or would you like to see what kind of trouble I can get us into?" Santana suggests, making Jeff's eyes widen at the suggestion. Hunter now understands why Jeff is so close to Santana. He must be her cousin. Nice.

"Let's not do whatever you're thinking," Jeff says quickly, making Thad, Nick, and Trent exhale in relief. Santana smirks and rolls her eyes. "Um, why don't you sing?" All the other boys, who have been eavesdropping, cheer in encouragement. Santana smirks, and stands up.

"How about one of you sing, and I'll dance," Santana argues.

"How about you do both," Jeff challenges. Santana smirks.

"Fine, I'll sing. Give me an artist!" Santana calls out to the other boys.

"Backstreet Boys!" Flint calls.

"Female, please," Santana says, crossing her arms. "And a solo artist."

"Elle King!" Flint tries.

"Taylor Swift!" Nelson interrupts.

"Britney Spears!" Richard calls out.

"Rihanna!" Cameron yells. Santana smiles evilly at him.

"Now that's something I can work with," she says. "Thad, Jeff, Cameron, Nick, backup," she orders. The boys get the hint, and all of them sit down on the couches, and Santana stands, back to all of them, facing the wall. Mentally, Santana decides of _Good Girl Gone Bad_, by, as requested, Rihanna. She snaps her fingers, and soft music starts, getting louder as the song progresses. Santana whirls around, singing smoothly and sexily, weaving gracefully in and out of the couches.

[Santana]

_We stay moving around solo_

_Ask us where you at, we don't know_

_And don't care (don't care)_

_All we know is we was at home 'cause you left us there_

_You got your boys and got gone_

_And left us all alone_

_Now she in the club with a freaky dress on_

_Cats don't want her to keep that dress on_

_Trying to get enough drinks in her system_

_Take it to the tele and make her a victim_

She moves around smoothly through the boys, and they all watch her, rapt with attention. Hunter and Sebastian especially. Sebastian knows how amazing she is, he misses it, and he knows this song is is partially directed at him, but it's about her. It's always about her, and that's the way he likes it. This is the first time he's gotten a good look at her today, she's in her usual Cheerios uniform, and her hair is up in a tight, ringletted, ponytail. He frowns internally. He definitely prefers her gorgeous hair loose. That's just him, though.

_Patron on brain, ball player in her face_

_They shake the spot, she's just another case_

Santana glides into the chorus, and the boys all watch in awe.

_Easy for a good girl to go bad_

_And once we've gone (gone)_

_Best believe we've gone forever_

_Don't be the reason, don't be the reason_

_You better learn how to treat us right_

_'Cause once a good girl goes bad, we done forever_

As this is the first time Hunter has ever heard Santana sing, he's enchanted. She's amazing, and she moves her body so well to the music. She's a fantastic singer, and seems to be an even better dancer. He can tell that the lyrics mean a bit to her, but he doesn't know what. When he catches her eye as she sings, she winks at him, sending warm feelings through him.

_He's staying with a flock of them, oh yeah_

_Got a girl at home, but he don't care_

_Won't care (won't care)_

_All he'll do is keep me at home, won't let me go nowhere_

_He thinks because I'm at home, I won't be gettin' it on_

_And now I'm finding numbers in the jacket pockets_

_Tricks calling the house, non-stop it's_

_Getting out of control, finally I can't take no more_

Santana repeats the chorus, and dances into the bridge, feeling everyone's eyes on her. She notices Sebastian watching from the corner, and falters a bit, regaining her composure immediately. She can't deny that she really liked the side of him that she got to know. But that side was all fake. She can't stop herself, though, from glancing his way every so often.

_We stay moving around solo_

_Ask us where you at, we don't know_

_And don't care (don't care)_

_All we know is we was at home 'cause you left us there_

_You got your boys and got gone_

_And left us all alone, oh_

She sings the chorus one last time, and ends the song, then everybody freezes. After a second, everyone bursts into applause, and Santana dips an exaggerated curtsy. They all get up to hug her again, and Santana leaves the room, followed closely by Nick, Jeff, Thad, Trent, and Hunter. They make their way outside, chatting animatedly about that song, and dance numbers. They find themselves on the field, so they decide on a quick game of soccer before heading to Breadstix for dinner.

After quickly briefing everyone on the rules, Jeff and Hunter are elected for team captains, due to the fact that they actually play soccer.

"Jeff? You want to pick first?" Hunter offers. Jeff shrugs and nods.

"Nick! C'mere!" Nick smiles, and goes over and joins his boyfriend.

"Santana! You can be on my team," Hunter says. Jeff smirks, since he's pretty sure his cousin knows nothing about soccer. Trent joins Niff, and Thad makes his way onto Hunter and Santana's team, and they start playing, a small crowd of Dalton boys sitting down on the bleachers to watch.

One hour later, Jeff is panting and sweating, hands on his knees. "Didn't think . . . you knew . . . anything about . . . soccer," Jeff pants. Santana smirks.

"Jeff, first of all, I've been to enough of your games to know the rules like the back of my hand, and to pick up all of your plays and strategies. I've been coming to these since we were 5. Second, I'm a dancer. I have impeccable footwork, and you of all people know how familiar I am with my body, and I know how to move it. Not to mention incredible stamina and breath control," Santana lists. Jeff nods in remembrance.

"Right. I never saw you during the week because you were always so busy with-"

"Yeah, all that jazz. But I always came to every single one of your games on the weekends." Jeff nods, and takes the water bottle that Santana offers him. She glances around, and sees Dalton students clapping, and the other players coming towards them. Hunter comes up to her, and high fives her.

"Nice playing! Have you played before? You seem like an expert." Jeff snorts, and Santana elbows him in the side, making him lean against Nick as to not fall over.

"Nah. I don't play. But I've been coming to Jeff's games ever since I was 5. So I picked up a few things."

"Well nice job! 5 to 2. Impressive," Hunter compliments. Santana nods, and looks around at the sweaty boys around her.

"Why don't you five go and take showers before we go to Breadstix? Y'all smell, and maybe you can prove that you own other clothes besides those blazers," Santana suggests. The boys all smile and agree, and they walk off the field, heading to the dorms. Jeff and Nick share, so they split off first, then Thad, since he rooms with David, then Trent and Hunter. Santana sits down in the window seat across from the doors, and looks at her phone.

She has a bunch of missed calls. Mostly from Brittany, Puck, and Quinn about where she is, why she skipped glee, and if she's feeling okay. She sighs. She'll tell them about the glee club tearing her up soon, but she knows that they'll quit with her. Maybe she'll do one more practice, and then tell them and quit. Her so called "family" deserves it. They'll be down 4 people for Regionals, and no one is interested in joining glee club, at least if Santana has anything to say about it.

Hunter emerges first, his hair still a bit wet, but now dressed in dark pants, and a navy blue sweater, with red and white edges. Santana smiles at him, and he sits down next to her.

"Your song was awesome," he says. Santana smiles.

"Thanks. You should've joined in. I bet you can sing great, and it's just fun."

"Maybe I will next time. Does that mean you'll come back to Dalton soon?" Santana smirks and nods.

"As long as you promise to assist my grand entrance. It'll be fun," Santana says.

"Why's that?"

"Because they know me as the devil incarnate, and it'll get you loads of street cred if I show up and be nice to you," Santana explains.

"And what do you get out of this?" Hunter asks, smiling slyly at the Latina.

"I get a dramatic entrance, time with my friend, and I get to show those boys that I play favorites." Hunter raises an eyebrow. "It'll make people do what I tell them to easier if they think they'll get into my supposed 'good graces'." Hunter laughs.

"I like it. Sounds like a deal. Friends?" Santana smiles, nods, and sticks out her hand. He shakes it. "A deal with the devil herself. I'm honored." Santana laughs, and then, Thad and Nick come out and join them, Thad in black pants, and a blue shirt, and Nick in jeans and a Dalton hoodie. Jeff and Trent join them a second later, the former in dark jeans, and a t shirt with a leather jacket draped over his arm, and the latter sporting faded jeans, a white and blue striped shirt, and a black jacket.

"You boys ready to go?" Santana asks. While she was waiting, she took a quick trip to the bathrooms, where she freshened up, she has had enough practice covering up sweat and the like from extended Cheerios practices.

The six go out to the parking lot, and then talk about dividing up cars. Trent, Thad, and Hunter offer theirs, but Santana cuts them all off.

"Guys! Enough. You five go in Thad's car, and I'll go on my bike. Easy." They all seem reluctant, and Santana rolls her eyes. "Fine. One of you can come with me." They don't seem all that reassured, with one of their own having to be in a close proximity to Satan. Santana smirks. "Okay then. Looks like we have everything worked out. Who's coming with me?" Nobody speaks up, until Hunter, who's had enough dawdling, raises his hand.

"I'll come with you. I don't mind." Santana smirks, and the rest of the guys pile into Thad's car. Santana and Hunter go over to her bike, and Santana gets on, and directs Hunter as to where to sit. He ends up right behind her, his arms around her waist. Neither of them mind, so they drive off to Breadstix.

After Santana crushed her song meant towards him, Sebastian escaped the room as soon as possible. He knew he wasn't wanted, and he knows that Santana still needs space from him. Still, he didn't like the way Hunter was looking at her during the song. It irked him, and he knows why, even if he won't admit it. So, he went outside to get some air, sitting on the bleachers, when a large crowd came out, and a mini soccer game started, with not only Santana, but Hunter, Nick, Jeff, Thad and Trent as well. Great. He did watch the game, and was impressed with Santana and Hunter's coordination and teamwork, but that same feeling arose. That feeling of . . . jealousy? No. Sebastian Smythe doesn't get jealous. Then what is it?

At the restaurant, the friends slide into a corner booth, Santana placed next to Jeff and Hunter. The waitress comes to them quickly, and they order sodas, and start talking animatedly about basically everything, Dalton, McKinley, Regionals, soccer, lacrosse (since Nick is on the team), current music, etc. The order dinner, and everyone teases Nick about his latest solo, a Katy Perry song in honor of one Blaine Anderson.

As Santana is fighting with the boys over the bill, she gets a call from Puck. She leaves the table, and takes the call.

"Hey Puck. What's up?"

"Why haven't you answered any of our calls?!"

"I've been busy at Dalton. I'm visiting friends."

"Fine. But why did you skip glee club?" Santana sighs. "San?"

"I'll tell you all tomorrow after glee. Deal?" Puck sighs in defeat.

"Fine. I'll update Q and B. Bye San. Text me when you get home."

"Bye Puck." She hangs up, and heads back to her table, where Nick has won the battle to pay the bill. She slides in on the end, and smoothly rejoins the conversation, now about upcoming midterms, and which classes they each are struggling with and excel at.

"I mean, I can get History and English no problem, but Science . . . Jeez. It's like my brain remembers everything but that class," Thad was complaining.

"See, I got Science, but Math is _impossible_," Trent whined, cueing mutters of "Drama queen".

"You know what the hardest subject is? Language Arts," Jeff cuts in, and the boys groan and agree wholeheartedly.

"Totally. Mr. Rowe is so annoying!" Hunter agrees. Santana bursts out laughing, and they all stare at her.

"What's so funny, Satan?" Nick asks curiously. She calms down, and smirks at them.

"Haven't you thought about getting outside help?" They all shake their heads.

"Nah. Mr. Rowe is like Hitler Incarnate, plus, we don't know anybody that is multilingual who could help us," Hunter says. Santana rolls her eyes.

"Guys. I'm sitting right here. I'm slightly offended, _ustedes son muy estupido,_" Santana says. They all _ohhh_ in remembrance, except Hunter, who just looks confused. "My family is Hispanic. I grew up with Spanish, and I'm offended that Jeff didn't think of me with your Spanish class." Hunter nods in acknowledgement.

"It's not just Spanish. It's French too," Trent reminds them. "And last I checked, you aren't French."

"Yeah. I'm not. But did you guys ever wonder how I get Language Arts credits at McKinley?" They all shake their heads. "Well, they know that I already know Spanish, but the class is mandatory, but to get my language credits, I learn a different language. I've been learning French since Freshman year." As soon as she says this, all the boys beg her to help them with their studying. Santana smirks, and nods, telling them that they can set up study times, and one-on-one times as well.

Internally, though, Santana is sighing. Just another thing to add to her To Do list. She knows that the twins are going to try, but they shouldn't have too, plus, they're only five years old. They can't really help themselves. Well, Glee club is off of the list, though. So that means more time in the afternoons to work, and maybe try to get some relaxing time.

They all decide to go, and they wave to Santana in the parking lot as they all pile into Thad's car, and she pulls away on her motorcycle. Santana arrives back at her house fairly quickly, but hesitates getting off of her bike. She remembers what Puck offered to her, show her mom how hard she works. Then, she shakes her head. She kinda wants to do it, but she can't do that to her Mami. She already kind of did, leaving her mom to do dinner by herself. Even though she might deserve it, it wouldn't send a good message to the twins, and Santana would get in _huge_ trouble. It's not worth it. At least for tonight.

She gets off her bike, and heads inside. The twins immediately ambush her, and hug her, and even though she sees that they are excited to see her, she sees their eyes drooping. Santana sighs, but notices that they are in their pajamas. Thank goodness. Andrea tells her as they go upstairs that they already brushed their teeth, but couldn't fall asleep, so they waited for her. Santana tucks them into bed, and asks them what song they want her to sing. They ask her to pick, so Santana sings _Temporary Home_, by Carrie Underwood. She's always had a soft spot for country music, and this song is slow, it's a bit sad, but is beautiful.

[Santana]

_Little boy, six years old_

_A little too used to being alone_

_Another new mom and dad, another school_

_Another house that'll never be home_

_When people ask him how he likes this place_

_He looks up and says with a smile upon his face_

Santana sings the song acapella, just her voice, lulling the kids softly to sleep with a story.

_"This is my temporary home_

_It's not where I belong_

_Windows in rooms that I'm passing through_

_This is just a stop, on the way to where I'm going_

_I'm not afraid because I know this is my_

_Temporary home."_

The people from the song semi-relate to Santana and the twins, but it's a stretch. Santana can relate to some of these things though, and it makes her song that much better, it's more emotional, it's personal, it's soft, sweet, and sad.

_Young mom on her own_

_She needs a little help got nowhere to go_

_She's lookin' for a job, lookin' for a way out_

_'Cause a halfway house will never be a home_

_At night she whispers to her baby girl_

_Someday we'll find a place here in this world_

Santana sings the chorus again, and continues the song until the last few soft, fading notes. By then, the twins are fast asleep. Santana shuts off the lights, and goes to her room, flopping on her bed. Then, someone knocks at her door.

"Come in, Mami," Santana says, correctly guessing the identity of the knocker. Maribel comes in, and sees her daughter half asleep on the bed.

"Mija . . . I didn't know . . . _lo siento._" Maribel has barely realized how freaking hard she works her daughter, she didn't realize until she was gone. She wishes Santana would have said something. She knows that their relationship will never be close, but they can at least have a mutual respect. She knows that the divorce was hardest on Santana, her oldest daughter loves Santiago so much, and that night, Maribel had walked in, and seen Santana asleep with his letterman jacket on. The same one he gave to her in high school, when they met.

Maribel sits down next to her precious, fragile daughter, and rest her hand on her knee.

"Santana. I know that we can never be what you and your Papi are . . . and I am so sorry for overworking you, and taking advantage of you for so long. I promise to not let that happen anymore, so can we at least try to . . . to respect each other? _Por favor?_"

Santana nods immediately, she knows that her Mami is right, and she agrees completely.

"Mami. _Gracias. Por todo._" Maribel nods, the beginnings of tears in her eyes, and gently, carefully, hugs her daughter. Santana hugs back after a second, but they release quickly. "_Buenas noches, _Mami."

"_Buenas noches, querida_." Maribel stands and flicks off the lights, and closes the door, letting her daughter sleep.

**A/N: Again, sorry for my Spanish. Don't worry, Sebby will redeem himself soon. ;)**


	8. Broken Bonds

The next day, Thursday, at McKinley, Puck, Quinn, and Brittany ask why she missed glee, and she promises to them that she'll tell them after school today, at the Lima Bean. Puck instead suggests Scandals, and they all agree to go there after school.

The day goes normally, Santana is back to normal, mostly, much to the displeasure of the glee club.

"Couldn't she just stay miserable forever?" Finn says, frowning. "She'd be so much better like that, and she's leave us alone."

"I wish. It seems like her little clique fixed her. Sadly," Rachel observes. "But it doesn't really matter. We're actually going places when we leave this dump. Santana's only job is going to be on a pole." Everyone laughs at that, and they all split off to their next classes. Little did they know, a sly blonde overheard everything, tears silently and slowly falling in honor of her best friend.

Santana was sitting down for lunch when Quinn pulled her out of her seat.

"What the hell, Fabray?" Santana snaps, more surprised than angry. Quinn just pulls her out of the crowded cafeteria, and into the deserted science lab. "What are we doing here?"

"I'm not exactly sure if I should be doing this . . ." Then, Quinn proceeds to tell Santana everything she heard in the hall, word for word. Santana closes her eyes, and gets out her phone, and writes down what Quinn told her. Quinn frowns. "San . . . should we confront them?" Santana shakes her head. "Are you ok? Wouldn't you be threatening to go all Lima Heights?" Then, realization dawns on the blonde. "Oh, San." Quinn envelops Santana in a bone-crushing hug, and Santana falls into the girl's embrace. "What did they say to you?"

Santana pulls her phone out again, and plays the recording. Quinn puts her hand over her mouth, and wipes away the few tears falling from the Latina's eyes.

"It's ok, San," she whispers. Quinn strokes her back, and let's go for a minute with one hand to text Puck and Brittany, but Santana stops her.

"No. We'll tell them after glee club today. Please? You know Puck will go nuts, and I want us to be out of school." Quinn nods.

"Ok. But we're all quitting glee with you."

"No! You don't have to do that! You all love glee!"

"And so do you, but part of the reason is that we're like family, and that isn't the case anymore," Quinn reasons. Santana nods in acceptance of what's to come, and Quinn leads them both to the bathroom, cleaning Santana up before heading back to the lunchroom.

After school, the glee kids piled into the choir room, laughing amongst themselves. The din fades a bit as the remaining four members came in, Quinn holding on tightly to Santana's hand as the group takes their usual seats in the back.

"Ok! It's time for your Maroon 5 songs! Rachel, you want to go first?" Mr. Schue asks, assuming that she'll go first, like usual. True to tradition, Rachel beams, and goes the center of the room, performing _Love Somebody_, directed at Frankenteen.

Second, Quinn performs a great rendition of _Daylight_, followed by Tina and Mike performing a clean version of _Payphone_.

Finally, Sam and Finn stand up, and everyone stops talking, waiting to see which song they've picked.

[Finn]

_Baby, it's not alright_

_The second that you turn your back, she'll be outta sight_

_Baby, she'll break your heart_

_The second that you spend the night apart_

_How could you do it?_

_Oh, how could you walk away, from everything we made?_

_How could you do it?_

_Oh, you better watch yourself, I think that girl's insane_

From her seat, Santana is in shock. Do they really think that about her? She knows the song is directed towards her, and she looks away for a second to blink back tears.

[Sam + Finn]

_Ooh_

_She's in it just to win it_

_Don't trust her for a minute_

_Ooh_

_It's a like cheap thriller_

_She's such a ladykiller_

Quinn can't believe that her "friends" are being such assholes. She knows that they are singing to Santana as well, so she holds on tight to her friends hand, squeezing it reassuringly every so often.

[Sam]

_Baby she'll eat you alive_

_As soon as she smells your blood in the water_

_You better run to survive_

_Before she makes you her latest slaughter_

_How could you do it?_

_Oh, just come back to me_

_Baby, I'm begging, please_

_How could you do it?_

_Oh, she knows I love you still, you're just her latest kill_

Everyone else is enjoying this, except Puck and Brittany, who are confused. When the boys finish, everyone save the four jump up to congratulate them. Santana is wiping away tears secretly, and Quinn wraps her arms around her. When everyone takes their seats again, Sam and Finn both flash Santana malicious grins. When Puck and Brittany confront Quinn and Santana as to what is up, they both agree to tell them, and Santana hands them a pair of earbuds, and her phone, playing what they said. As Mr. Schuester starts talking about Regionals, Quinn tells them what she heard in the hall.

Both girls could see Puck's fists clenching. Nobody hurts Santana Lopez and gets away with it, may the revenge be from her, him, or Quinn or Britt. No one hurts the Unholy Trinity without revenge. Brittany is furious as well. Santana is her best friend! She thought that the glee club was a family. That they were there for one another. But she was wrong. This is a harsh dose of reality for Brittany, and she doesn't like it one bit. She normally is silly, but she is smart, and she gets so depressed at reality. This hurts.

Interrupting Mr. Schue, the four storm down from their seats.

"What's wrong guys?" Will asks. He doesn't like the look in Puck's eyes, or the seriousness in Brittany's face.

"We quit. All four of us," Puck spits.

"No You can't! We need you guys for Regionals!" Mr. Schue says, surprised.

"That's all you want us to stay for?" Quinn sneers.

"No. That's not what I meant. It's just . . . we're a family, and I thought you loved glee."

"I can't believe that you actually believe that whole 'we're a family, we're including' bullshit," Santana snaps.

"We are a family. We do include everyone," Rachel says, standing to help Mr. Schue. Santana wheels on her, making her cower a bit at the Latina's wrath.

"Really, Hobbit? Because we have evidence to prove the contrary," Quinn interjects.

"Now, wait. Why are you guys quitting?" Mr. Schue, says, trying to get the argument back on topic.

"Because I'm sick and tired all of this inclusion crap. You talk about discarding labels, and being there for each other, but apparently, that doesn't include me. Yeah, I heard your little 'meeting' in the auditorium. Apparently, I'm too much of a bitch to be in your so called family," Santana sneers. She's on a bitch rant right now, and everyone knows not to stop her, or things could get messy. "You all hate me, so shouldn't you be glad this is happening? That I'm leaving, and I'll just go and find a _pole_ to work on? Quinn heard your conversation in the hall, too. But it's all good. 'Cause I'm just the Ice Queen with no feelings, so it's ok to completely rip me up, I deserve it because I'm 'so mean' for calling you a few names. And this from people who have been bullied worse, and who go on and on about inclusion, no judging, and 'taking the high road'. And the funny thing is? I've actually been helping you, but either y'all are too fucking blind to realize it, or just don't care because of what I've done in the past. Have any of you noticed how many slushies have been hitting you? Raise your hand of you've been hit with a slushie this year."

Everyone looks around the room, rendered silent by Santana's outburst. No one raises a hand. Santana nods angrily, not done yet.

"You wanna know why? Because I threatened Karofsky, Azimio, the meaner Cheerios, and those hockey and football jerks. I warned them that is they slushied any of you, I would go all Lima Heights on their asses. But that means nothing, apparently. I'm still the same _whore_ I've always been. You all know absolutely nothing about me, so you have _no right_ to talk about me that way. For instance, do any of you know when my birthday is?" No one speaks. No one knows the answer. "Thought so," Santana sneers. "So, I'm leaving, and these lovely people are following me because they are my best friends, and they care about me, unlike you all, who only tolerate my presence because I can sing. So _adios_."

Santana seems done, and she, Puck, Quinn and Brittany walk towards the door, with no regrets. Then, Santana stops, and looks back at them.

"And good luck for Regionals. It'll be hard winning without enough members." With that, she smirks, hiding her true emotions, and the door slams behind them, leaving a stunned glee club behind them.

Mr. Schue wheels on the glee club, who are now looking extremely guilty and ashamed. They now realize that they hadn't had a single slushie incident this year, and that was thanks to Santana. Now, they probably will have a lot of them coming their way. And, it'll be practically impossible to find four more members, let alone members who can sing as well as the four of them. They really messed up, and they have no idea how to fix it.

Outside in the McKinley parking lot, Santana is taking deep breaths, trying to hold in her tears, and catch her breath from her Bitch Fit. Brittany is hugging her, trying to keep both of them warm in the cold weather, rubbing circles on her back, Quinn is holding onto her hand, as if it'll disappear if she lets go, and Puck is alternating between punching things, and working furiously on his phone.

"I know your birthday, Sanny," Brittany whispers. "It's April 27." Santana is shocked that Brittany actually remembers, because she knows that Brittany struggles with exact dates, but she's grateful. "What are you doing, Puck?"

"I'm sending out a few messages. One to everybody, telling them not to join glee club, unless they want a full Puckerman-Lopez treatment," Puck starts.

"A Puckerman-Lopez-Fabray-Pierce treatment," Quinn corrects. Puck nods, and makes a few changes to the email blast.

"And another group one to the jocks, telling them that slushie restrictions are off, and they can have a field day. The glee club deserves it," Puck mutters angrily. Santana pulls from Brittany's grasp, and hugs Puck, effectively calming him down. They all agree to go to the Lima Bean for coffee to soothe their nerves and emotions. Santana carpooled with Puck today, since winter is almost here, and it's getting too cold for her bike, they get in his car, and Puck is thankful that they did, he doesn't want Santana alone, in case she makes a bad decision, she does that sometimes when she's upset or angry.

At the Lima Bean, they claim the large corner couch seats, and they all pile onto one, while Quinn gets the coffees. Quinn also gets four doughnuts, because she knows her friend's favorite treat, and she wants her to feel better right now. As she goes over to sit down, a large group of boys, in infamous red and navy blazers, step through the door.

Nick recognizes one of Santana's good friends, he's heard about Quinn from Jeff, and he's met her a few times. He frowns when he sees the worried expression on the girl's face. As the lacrosse team goes up to the counter and gets in line, he looks over to where the blonde was heading, and sees a group of four, everyone seeming to be comforting a silently crying brunette. _Wait a second . . . that's Santana!_ Nick realizes. He places his order quickly, and once he gets his drink, speed walks over to them. He knows that they can all see him, but they know Santana, and this isn't normal. Not at all. He goes over to them, and he sees Santana glance up at him, her eyes slightly red. Santana offers a bad attempt at a smile, and he comes over, and sits down on the couch across from the four.

"Excuse me?" Puck asks Nick. "Who are you?"

"Nick. We've met before. Her cousin, Jeff's, boyfriend." Puck nods in recognition, and Santana gets up a bit, and sits down next to the Warbler. Nick puts an arm around her shoulders, and whispers to her, "_What happened, San?_" Santana sniffles, and looks at him.

"The glee club. We all quit. Because they were ripping me up behind my back. Called me a slutty whore. Said my only job is on a pole."

"But you were helping them with the slushie situation," Nick says, confused.

"Yeah, and they didn't care," Santana says angrily, wiping away a few tears. "Didn't even seem to care when I left."

"I'm sorry, San. If it was possible, I would offer for you all to join the Warblers with me, but . . ." Nick trails off, knowing that they'll understand, and a glimmer of a smile is seen on Santana's face. "Hold on. I'll text Jeff to come. And he'll bring Trent, Thad, and even Hunter if you want." Santana nods, and Nick whips out his phone, and sends a speed text to his boyfriend.

Sebastian sees his teammate distracted, so he goes over to get him.

"Hey Nick. We're leaving . . . oh. Hey J-Lo. Blondie. Other Blondie."

"They have names, Sebastian," Nick says, slightly exasperated. Sebastian knows that they all have names, but he is confused at why they're all here, and why Santana's eyes are red.

"Just leave. Please," Santana says, a little bit of fire coming back to her voice. She kinda wants him to take her in his arms again, but not here, in front of everybody, but she mostly wants him gone. Sebastian doesn't argue.

"Ok. See you back at Dalton, Nick." Then, as he's leaving, he sees four more boys in Dalton blazers come rushing through the door. He grits his teeth when he sees Hunter. Sebastian can tell that Hunter likes Santana, and it doesn't sit right with him.

Brittany S. Pierce isn't the smartest girl. But she does know a thing or two about relationships. When he came over, Brittany could see the way Sebastian looked at Santana. It was similar to the way she knows that she occasionally looks at Artie. Or used to look at Artie. One of longing, one of desire, one of caring. And she saw something in Santana's eyes when he came over. Something similar, but also hurt. Is something going on between them? Brittany knows when something is up, and when it's worth investigating. This is. She makes a mental note to keep a close eye out with the two, when she sees more boys come in, and Sebastian glares daggers at one of them. The one Santana told her about. Santana's new friend. Is that jealousy on Sebastian's eyes? Brittany is 99% sure that it is, even if he hasn't identified it yet. She smiles to herself. She knows now that she and Santana were meant to be best friends, nothing more. And she is going to help her best friend find love. Brittany is good at that sort of thing. It hurts a bit, to let her friend go, but it needs to be done.

When Jeff got Nick's urgent text to come to the Lima Bean, Jeff was scared. His boyfriend had mentioned that it had something to do with Santana, so he brought along the gang. When the gang gets there, they rush to the couches, where they know Santana would be, and Jeff saw his cousin sandwiched in between her best friends, her girlfriend holding her hand, tracing circles on her arm, and her best friend since, like, preschool, with his arm around her shoulders comfortingly. The four of them rush past Sebastian, and go over to Santana, who stands to meet them. She hugs each of them, plastering on a clearly forced smile, Jeff can see the tears in her eyes, and as they all sit, he demands to know what's wrong. Brittany whispers something into Santana's ear, and at first, she shakes her head violently, but Brittany whispers something else, and Santana sighs, and takes out her phone.

They boys all look confused, but when a recording start, they understand, and clap their hands over their mouth at the horrible words about their friend. When the recording ends, Santana is staring at her lap, not wanting to see all the sympathetic faces. Jeff stands up, and hugs Santana tightly. Nick joins in, then Trent, then Thad and Hunter, then Brittany and Quinn, and finally Puck to finish the group hug.

When they release, everyone switches up seats, Santana now sandwiched in between and angry Jeff, and a infuriated Quinn. Puck is on the other side of Jeff, and all the boys are talking about revenge and prank plans, while the the Unholy Trinity is discussing a girls day to soothe their nerves.

Brittany has just agreed on going out next weekend, when Thad slides next to her. She smiles at him, and they get into a silly conversation about their shared fear of horses. Except baby ones. Foals and fillies are adorable.

Santana nudges Quinn, and cocks her head towards the two. Quinn grins, and sees what her friend is telling her. The blonde shakes her shoulders playfully, and Santana sticks her tongue out at her. Quinn smiles, happy that her friend is feeling better.

After everyone finishes their drinks, and they talk for a little bit more, the boys stand up, and tell them that they have to head back to Dalton. The girls and Puck say goodbye, and Santana gives them all hugs, each of them promising to text her later. The boys are gearing up to leave, when they notice Sebastian reading a book in another corner of the shop.

"Hey, Sebastian! Why are you still here?" Sebastian lifts an eyebrow at Jeff's question.

"I'm Nick's ride. There isn't enough space in your car, last I checked, and I figured that I'd be nice for once, and stay so someone doesn't end up walking alone in the cold." Nick nods, and splits off from the boys and joins Sebastian in his car, they are pretty nice to each other, with them both being stars on the lacrosse team. The practices have been getting worse lately, just because the weather is getting much colder. Nick wouldn't be surprised if it started snowing soon.

After the Warblers left, Santana and her friends got up as well, Puck and Santana saying goodbye to Quinn and Brittany as they get in the car bound for Lima Heights. As they drive, Puck makes Santana promise that she'll find him if she needs anything, anything at all. She promises quickly, she needs someone close, and he drops her off at her house. Then, her phone buzzes. A text from Hunter. Asking to meet up with her. She replies that she's free tomorrow, and he agrees immediately.

Meanwhile, once Brittany gets home, she gets a text as well. From an unknown number. She walks upstairs to her room, and thinks about who this might be, and what they might want from her. Deciding to look into it, since she has a theory, she calls the person.

"Hello?" she asks into the phone.

"Brittany?" a voice says.

"Sebastian? Hi! What can I help you with?" she asks brightly.

"Could we meet up at the Lima Bean tomorrow afternoon at 4:00? I have to talk to you about something."

"Sure!"

"Cool." He hangs up. Brittany sets her phone down. She has many, many theories postulating in her head about what he wants, but decides to let him tell her everything tomorrow.

The next day, at McKinley, you have to watch your head. A rainbow of icy drinks flying in every direction, each one landing directly on a glee clubber. Without Santana Maria Diabla Lopez protecting them, they are completely vulnerable, and everyone knows it. The jocks are finally happy that there aren't restrictions as to who they slushie. Well, everyone knows it's suicide to slushie the Fearsome Four. The Unholy Trinity, and their bodyguard. No one slushies Cheerios either, unless they want the wrath of one Sue Sylvester.

The crowded halls part like the Red Sea for Moses in front of Santana Lopez. With a new fire in her eyes, armed with dangerous eyes that could almost kill you with a look, sharp nails, and an even sharper tongue, people dare not cross her. They all know something went down, but it only made her stronger. That's what everyone admires about Santana, though they'd never admit it aloud.

The glee club is currently hiding in the choir room, afraid to step foot outside their sanctuary. Each of them has already gotten slushied at least twice, and Rachel has had enough of it.

"Ok. Who here has Santana's number? I'm going to stop this." Everyone looks concerned for Rachel's safety, but no one actually has her number.

"I can IM her on Facebook," Mercedes offers slowly. "When we worked together for duets week, we became Facebook friends." They all nod at her to do it, and a few minutes later, Santana struts into the choir room, alone, as requested.

"You wanted to see me, Wheezy?"

"Actually, I did," Rachel says bravely, stepping forwards, but withering under the glare of the Latina.

"You did, huh? And why would I want to talk to you? Have you called to apologize?"

Rachel never was that much of a forward thinker when it came to social situations, and isn't good at reading the situation.

"Actually no. I wanted to say that my opinion of you was only bolstered by the fact that you told everyone to slushie us." Everyone gasps, now seriously worried for their lead singer's safety and sanity. They can see the fire in the Latina's eyes as she takes a few calm steps forwards, making them all step backwards.

"Actually, _Man Hands_, I didn't tell them to do anything. I just told them that you all are no longer under my protection. It was all their choice. But I can't say that I didn't approve," Santana sneers. "Maybe next time you want something from someone," Santana says, addressing the whole club, "don't let RuPaul take the lead. And insulting them isn't helpful either." With that, she turns on her heel, and marches out of her old second home, now a suffocating, stifling environment.

The glee club wheels on Rachel to reprimand her, but Finn comes to his girlfriends defense. Somehow, he manages to convince the lot of them that this is Satan's fault, instead of Rachel, even when the blame clearly rests on Berry.

After school, Puck drops Santana off a her house, and she dashes upstairs. She quickly texts Hunter the address of the club, and then changes into leather skinny jeans, wedge boots, and a black tank top. She throws on a thick leather jacket over it, and calls to her mom that she's meeting a friend. Since the club is close, she takes a nice walk through Lima Heights. She does run into a few miscreants, but her tough-ass attire and piercing glare steers them off quickly.

When she gets to her destination, she checks her jacket, and walk over to the counter, and orders a soda while she waits for Hunter. She sees him come in, and appreciates his natural ability at commanding a crowd, everyone parts for him as he scans the room, soon walking over to her with a smirk on his face. Yeah, he's definitely done this before.

"Hey, Satan."

"Commander Clarington," Santana says teasingly. Hunter grins, and takes the seat next to her.

"So, why are we here?"

"This is one of my favorite places to hang out. It's different from Scandals because it's less of a bar, they don't serve tons of alcohol, it's more of a karaoke place, but many kinds of people come here. For example, that guy over there, his name is Lukas, he was here last time I came, his family is from Sweden, and he's studying to be an astronomer, but he still loves a good drink."

"How do you know all of that?" Hunter asks in awe. Santana shrugs mischievously.

"You never know what people will tell you with just a little bit of alcohol in their systems."

"Amen," Hunter says.

He gets up, and comes back with a beer, and they clink their drinks together. "By the way, nice outfit. You a regular here?" Santana nods. "The bartender noticed me coming from your table, and gave me a discount for knowing you." They both laugh, and Santana gets up. "Where are you going?" Santana looks back at him with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"You'll see." Just then, the DJ announces that karaoke is open, and, since she looks smoking hot, and has impressive powers of persuasion, Santana gets up on stage first, skipping the line entirely.

She zooms into a fantastic rendition of _Shattered Glass_, by Britney Spears, and as she does, she hops off the stage and dances through the crowd, making her way to Hunter, who's gotten up to dance. They dance together for a bit, and then sit down, smiling, Hunter a bit out of breath, and Santana smiling.

"Well done," Hunter says, high fiving her.

"Thanks. This is my creative outlet now that I'm not in glee club anymore. Oh, shit," Santana says.

"What?" Hunter asks, concerned as she puts her head in her hands.

"This was mean to be fun, and I wasn't supposed to mention glee club. This isn't supposed to be a pity party, or a feel better thing."

"Hey, look at me." Santana lifts her head, and looks at Hunter. "Don't worry about it. We don't have to talk about it more, but you have every right to be upset after all those lies they said about you." Santana smiles.

"Thanks Hunter."

"Of course, Santana."

At exactly 4:00, Brittany walks into the Lima Bean, going straight to the meerkat-faced boy in the blazer, sitting calmly at a corner table.

"Blondie. Right on time. Fantastic," Sebastian drawls.

"This is about Sanny," Brittany says suddenly. She knew that her plan was to let him tell her, but she saw him quickly flip off of his message thread with her, and she sees that look in his eyes again, and his nod confirms it. Brittany sits down, and waits for Sebastian to speak.

"You know how Santana was acting all quiet recently?" Brittany nods. "It was my fault." Then, the whole story comes spilling out of the bronze-haired boy, and Brittany watches in awe. She sees that underneath the cold, icy, sharp exterior, he really loves her best friend, even if he doesn't realize it. It's in the way he talks about her, the way he looks when he's talking or thinking about her, the way he looks at her. It almost makes Brittany's heart hurt, it's so sweet and sad. She can feel it, and she knows that she and Santana are meant to be BFFs. This . . . Santana and Sebastian . . . this is right. It just needs to happen, and she is going to be the one to do it.

When he finishes his long, rambling story, Sebastian's face flushes, and he looks down.

"I'm really sorry, Brittany, it just happened." Brittany smiles softly, and reaches across the table, and takes his hand, making him jump in shock. Brittany smirks.

"It's ok, ex-dolphin. I'll make sure that everything ends up right." Brittany sees Sebastian's walls coming up, and she rolls her eyes.

"What the hell does that mean?" Sebastian asks. Brittany shrugs in response.

"You're a penguin, and some of your other penguins are dolphins, but you're not." Brittany explains, but it only makes him more confused.

"Whatever, Blondie." With that, a frustrated Sebastian walks out of the Lima Bean, leaving a beaming Brittany behind him.

She knows that the only reason he got upset is because he cared. He cared that what she had to say would help him and Santana, but he got upset when he didn't understand it. Brittany sighs to herself as she heads out to her car. Sanny would get it. Brittany smiles at the thought of her best friend. Really, she's always thought of them in that way. Best friends for life. But the first step in her master plan is the hard part. The really hard part. This might make or break the future of Brittany's new favorite ship, Sebtana (she ought to put a patent on the name, it's pretty ingenious, if she does say so herself).

Saturday, finally, and Santana gears up to go to the shop, but she gets a call from Burt saying that they're not open today. So, Santana relaxes down on her bed, thinking about what to do today, until she gets a text from Brittany, asking to meet up at the Lima Bean. Santana smiles, and changes into ripped jeans, a t shirt, combat boots, and her leather jacket, and gets on her bike, trying to ignore the harsh wind. It feels like there's a storm coming.

Santana enters the Lima Bean, and finds Brittany with an apologetic smile on her face. She's confused as she sits down across from her girlfriend, asking her what's up.

Brittany is having a hard time. She's really excited to help her best friend, but she knows that this is going to break her heart. Brittany doesn't exactly know how to put this gently, so that Santana will still talk to her. Brittany takes a deep breath.

"Sanny, you know how we're best friends, right?" Santana nods.

"Always and forever, Britt-Britt."

"Well, I think . . . I think that's all we were meant to be." Santana blinks a few times, and shakes her head, standing up. This isn't happening.

"What? Brittany, are you breaking up with me?" Santana asks desperately. Brittany really wants to say no, and spare her best friend this brief pain, but it needs to happen. Brittany nods solemnly.

"Yes. I'm so sorry San. but we both knew it, and . . . there's someone else." Brittany realizes her bad choice of words immediately. "Not for me! I-um, ugh. Someone else really likes you, and we are just meant to be gal pals, and BFFs, ok?" Brittany pleads.

Santana has a few stray tears falling, but nods. She thought Brittany was the one thing that wouldn't change. But now, it's over. Somewhere inside Santana, she knows that Brittany is right, and she agrees with the blonde, and Santana lets that part take over, and nods, accepting what's happening. Brittany stands up, and hugs her tightly, but Santana doesn't hug back.

"We're still best friend, right, Sanny?" Brittany says, hoping that her plan didn't just cost her her best friend. Santana nods her head.

"Forever, Britt. I just need space and time, for now. Thank you." Santana kisses Brittany's forehead, and then walks out of the coffee shop. Brittany sits back down, and pulls out her phone, and her step-by-step plan. Step one, complete.

Santana hurries back to her house, and collapses on her bed, silently crying. She curls up into a ball, and wraps her Papi's jacket around her.

Sebastian looks across from his window into Santana's room. He wants to talk to her so badly, but she isn't there. Then, she comes rushing in, crying a bit, and flops on her bed. This isn't normal for her. Before he can think twice, he grabs his phone, and fires off a Private Message, under the nickname Santana gave him, both of their favorite one of many. She's filed under his favorite nickname for her, J-Lo.

[Andrew McCarthy]

_Hey. R u ok?_

When Santana's phone buzzes, she at first doesn't want to answer it, but she sighs, thinking that it might be important, it might be from Brittany, or Puck. She frowns, more in confusion, which she sees who it's from. She considers not answering, but then wonders how he knew she was sad.

[Jenny Lopez]

_R u stalking me, or something?_

[Andrew McCarthy]

_No. I can just see u crying, remember?_

Then, Santana remembers that she doesn't have curtains, and he can see her. She sits up, and frowns at him through the window. She doesn't know why she's telling him this, but she wants to contact him. She wants to keep talking.

[Jenny Lopez]

_Brittany broke up w/ me._

Sebastian is shocked. He did not expect that. He figured that the slightly crazy blonde was up to something when they met in the Lima Bean, but he did know what. Why would she break up with Santana? Aren't they best friends?

[Andrew McCarthy]

_Really sorry, Tana. Is there anything I can do?_

While Santana responds, he opens his IM thread with 'Blondie #1'. He's a little confused as to why Brittany wanted to call him Sebastian the Crab, but they both agreed on Meerkat.

[Meerkat]

_Is it true that u broke up w/ Tana?_

Brittany responds almost immediately.

[Blondie #1]

_Yes. Did Sanny tell u? I hope she's ok . . . _

[Meerkat]

_Yeah, she just did. Y did u do it?_

[Blondie #1]

_We were meant to be BFFs, nothing more. Plus, she's not a dolphin anymore._

[Meerkat]

_Ok . . . ._

After getting confused by Brittany, Sebastian returns to his IMing with Santana, who responded to his question finally.

[Jenny Lopez]

_Could u, um, just be there? In case I need someone, and u r right there. I know it'll be weird, is that ok w/ u?_

[Andrew McCarthy]

_Yeah, of course. Anything. It won't be weird, I promise._

[Jenny Lopez]

_Thanks. Ttyl._

After closing her conversation with Sebastian, Santana feels a little better, knowing that Sebastian isn't mad at her, and they are kinda at even ground. So, she leaves her room, and goes out onto the front steps. After a minute, she starts walking, and soon, she arrives at a large house, and knocks firmly on the door.

A woman with tan skin, and black hair answers the door. Santana offers a half smile at Ariel Kinneret, Puck's mom. She never took the Puckerman last name, since Puck's dad left them both. Ariel lets Santana in, and Santana climbs the stairs, entering Puck's room, where he's sprawled on his bed, playing a video game. Santana grabs the second console, plugs it in, and joins him in the cooperative game. Once Santana helps Puck win, he turns to her.

"So, Satan, as much as I love your company, you never show up unannounced. What happened?"

"Brittany broke up with me. She and I both agreed that we are meant to be best friends, nothing more."

"Oh, San. I'm sorry." Puck hugs her, and Santana feels better. Ish. After an afternoon of gaming with Puck, Santana bids him goodbye, and walks home. When she gets there, she's immediately sucked into the vortex of housework, cooking, entertaining the twins, who seem to have forgotten their promise, but Santana is fine with that. They don't have to do that. Also, cleaning, clearing out old things and piling them in the guest room, which was Diego's room, before it became Abuela's, and now it's empty.

While Santana, her mom, and the twins are eating dinner, it starts to rain. Like, pour. They all hear the pounding of rain against the roof, and as she clears the table, Santana crosses her fingers that there won't be thunder. She's not afraid of it, it just . . . brings back memories.

Santana puts the twins to bed, and the rain lets up, making Santana sigh in relief. But, her third eye tells her that it'll come back, worse than before. She hangs her head, and lies the twins down, asking them what song they want to hear tonight. They decide on _Scars to Your Beautiful_, by Alessia Cara, and Santana obliges, toning down the beats, and tempo to make it a suitable bedtime song.

Once she finishes, she shuts the door, and goes to her room. She then sits in her chair by the window looking out over the backyard. She leans her head on the windowsill, staring up at the sky, knowing what's to come, thanks to her third eye. But, before she knows it, she's fallen asleep.


	9. Moving In

Sebastian returns from a chat with his parents about what to do if it gets colder, and when he looks out his window, he sees Santana asleep on the other window. He winces. That'll be a pain in the ass when she wakes up, especially for her Cheerios practice. Sebastian feels something in his gut, telling him to go help her, his heart agrees, but his head is telling him to leave her alone. Well, they got on semi level ground via, text, Sebastian decides, so he opens his window, and climbs skillfully down the side of the house, and scales Santana's side. He's thankful she left this window open a crack, he pushes it open fully, and slides into her room. Even after their whole "enemies/friends with benefits" thing, he hasn't actually been in her room. He can't see much because it's dark, but he really only cares about the sleeping Latina.

He walks over to her, silently, and as to not wake the beauty, gently lifts her into his arms, bridal style. Her head lolls over to rest gently on his chest, and he smiles to himself. Weirdly, he likes the feeling of her weight in his arms. He walks slowly over to her bed, and attempts to lay her down without waking her up. She deserves sleep after everything that she's going through. Sebastian gently sets her down, reluctantly rolling her head off of his chest and onto her pillow. He removes his arms, and debates doing anything else, when the Latina stirs.

"Mmgh . . . what? Smythe?" Santana says sleepily. "What are you going here?" She's more awake now, and opens her eyes. Sebastian meets her dark eyes, and something inside him melts at the innocent look in them. Trying to play it cool, Sebastian shrugs.

"You fell asleep on the window. I figured that it would be a pain in the ass tomorrow for your neck during Cheerios practice, so I just came over, and now we're here. I'll see you later?" Sebastian offers, going towards the window. Santana frowns, and shakes her head, much to Sebastian's confusion.

"You can't leave now. It's pouring outside," Santana says. Sebastian looks outside.

"What?" Santana holds up three fingers, and lowers them one at a time, counting down. When she gets to zero, the sky rumbles, and rain starts pounding the roof, even harder than before.

"It won't be safe climbing houses in this weather."

"Well, then, what should I do then?" Sebastian challenges lightly, with a smile on his face. Santana smiles a bit, and rolls her eyes.

"Come here." Sebastian's eyes widen, and Santana smirks. "It's not like we haven't slept together. But you can't take the floor if you want . . ."

"No, it's fine," Sebastian says quickly.

"Thought so." Santana sits up, and kicks off her shoes. She gets off the bed, and quickly changes out of her shirt and bra into a loose tank top. Sebastian gasps to himself at seeing Santana Lopez's perfect body bare in front of him. It's been awhile. Santana yawns, and slides under the blanket, on the side closest to the window. Sebastian moves around to the other side of the bed, and lies down.

"Night, Twink," Santana mumbles quietly.

"Night, Satan."

Ignoring the heat sensation on her back, Santana faces the window, and stares out of it, at the rain, and flashes of lightning in the distance. She tenses every time the thunder rumbles, and the tells herself that she's being stupid.

Sebastian can feel Santana tense up, and he looks over to her.

"Hey. You ok?" Santana nods. Thinking that that's all he's going to get from her, he closes his eyes, but she speaks.

"I just- just don't really like storms."

"Are you afraid of lightning?" Sebastian asks carefully. Santana shakes her head, and takes a deep breath.

"When I was six, though, I was _obsessed_ with it. I thought it was so cool that light could do that." They both chuckle a bit. "Yeah, I was a stupid little kid. But, for the next storm, I ran outside to get a better view."

"Did you get hit?" Sebastian asks, wanting to know, but not wanting to interrupt this personal story. Santana chuckles a bit, and shakes her head, turning her head a bit to look at him.

"No, bit a tree in our yard did. It burst up in flames, and started falling. I screamed, and ran back into the house, and for the next year, I was terrified of storms. And it seemed like there were more than usual that year. Just the universe out to get me, per usual. But whenever they did happen, I would always run to my parents room, and they would always hold me, and tell me that everything was going to be alright. And if they were asleep, I went to Diego. But most often, my parents. They were together, and I just . . . I always felt safe. Loved. I dunno, lightning storms just remind me of that, and what I don't have anymore." Sebastian is quiet for a second after Santana stops speaking.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm too old for that now. I don't really have people lining up to do that, so I'm alone. It's my turn to be the stronger one. For the twins. Sometimes though, it's nice having someone look out for you. And, my parents divorced. Even if I was small enough, it wouldn't be the same." Sebastian's heart pulled like taffy with sympathy for the Latina. Her life is crumbling to pieces around her, and she has no one to really help her through it.

"I'm really sorry about your parents, Tana."

"It's ok. It's not your fault."

"You think that it's yours." Sebastian might not know the Latina very well, but often enough, he hears people saying that they are very similar, and that's what he'd be thinking.

"Yeah. They were fighting about me in the beginning. My being in glee, my bike, my future in comparison to Diego's." Santana sniffles, and wraps her arms around her shoulders. She doesn't know why she's telling Sebastian all of this, all her personal shit, but she trusts him. Weirdly enough.

"Diego?" Oh shit. She didn't want to bring that up.

"Um, he was my older brother."

"Was? Oh, Tana . . ."

"Do you remember that big bus crash when we were thirteen? I'm sure you heard about it." Sebastian recalled the event, and remembered his dad telling him about it, and his mom telling him about all the patients in the hospital. "Well, my brother . . . he was one of the three that didn't make it out." Santana can't help herself, a few tears leak down her cheeks. She doesn't bother to brush them away.

Sebastian can't stand seeing this girl in pain. He wasn't lying when he said that he likes her. Santana turns her head to him, and he sees the tears slowly dripping down her face. He reaches one hand out and cups her cheek, using him thumb to lightly brush them away. The corner of her mouth turns up, barely, but enough for Sebastian to know that she appreciates this.

Somehow, the two have moved closer, more towards the center of the bed, and Sebastian sees Santana holding herself together. He feels an uncontrollable urge to hold her, she did say that she misses it. But as he shifts positions, he whispers, "Tell me to stop, and I will." Santana glances over her shoulder, and nods, she really wants this, and she slides back a bit, into Sebastian's warm embrace.

Sebastian wraps his arms tightly around the trembling Latina, and rests his head against the back of hers. Soon, he feels Santana moving again, this time holding his arms in position. He smiles a bit, and they both close their eyes, Sebastian's arms wrapped tightly around Santana, him not wanting to ever let go, and her not wanting him to either.

Early Sunday morning, the rain has turned to snow, and there's a thick layer covering the ground. Santana wakes up with a pair of tan, toned arms around her. She doesn't mind them, actually. She glances up, and sees Sebastian behind her. She smiles to herself, and shuts her eyes again.

When Sebastian wakes up, he feels happy. He feels good. He glances down at the sleeping Latina in his arms, and he knows why. He presses a gentle kiss to the back of her head, thankful that she's asleep, and remains where he is, not wanting to disturb her. After a little bit, she wakes up, and he reluctantly lets her go as they both shift so they can see each other.

"Hey, Tana."

"Morning, Bas," Santana says sleepily, yawning. Sebastian smiles. It's been a while since she called him that, and he likes it. She sits up, and Sebastian copies her movements, sitting up as well.

Santana smiles a bit at Sebastian, but remembers what she said last night, and starts nervously biting on her lower lip.

"Hey. What's up?" Sebastian asks softly. Santana shakes her head.

"Do you remember what I told you last night?" Sebastian recalls Santana telling him about her childhood, and the lightning, and her brother. Of course he remembers. He remembers every single detail.

"Yeah. I do. Is that a problem?" Santana shakes her head.

"No. Just . . . can you not tell anyone? Please?" Sebastian nods immediately, and Santana smiles. "Thanks."

"Of course, Tana." The air becomes tense, awkward, so Sebastian says goodbye, and heads back to his house, clearing off snow from the siding.

Back in his room, he lies down, and just in time too, because then, his parents come in, and tell him that they need to stay elsewhere while it's this cold, since their house doesn't have the heating system set up yet.

So, per his parents request, he packs a small bag, and leaves it in the living room, and goes to the kitchen to eat the eggs his mother made. Once they finish breakfast, they grab their jackets, and head next door.

Alicia knocks on the door, and they wait for a second, hearing footsteps rushing towards the door.

When Sebastian leaves, Santana pulls on dark leggings, a black tank top, and one of her brother's shirts, this one with red and black colors. She starts to put her hair up when someone knocks, so she runs downstairs, and hastily puts her hair in a bun, and opens the door to find the Smythes.

When Santana answers the door, Sebastian is a bit surprised at how quickly she managed to get out of bed. She looks great too, with the loose shirt, and stretchy leggings.

"Hello. May I help you?" Santana asks politely.

"Yes please, dear. Are your parents home?" Alicia asks. Santana's face falls for a second, but returns fast enough so that only Sebastian notices.

"My Mami is home. Come on in," Santana says, opening the door wider. The three of them come in, and Santana guides them to the living room, then disappears into the house to find her mom. She comes back with the older Ms. Lopez a few minutes later, and they both sit down.

"Hello, it's nice to see you again," Maribel says warmly. "Now, is there something I can do for you?" Alicia nods, and is about to speak, when Maribel remembers something. "Oh, Santana? Could you check on the twins?" Santana sighs and nods, standing slowly, and going up the stairs.

_I thought she said she'd try not to overwork me,_ Santana thinks as she approaches the twins' room. She cracks open the door to find Mateo reading in his bed, and Andrea playing quietly with her stuffed animals. They have a rule that they don't leave their room until someone (Santana) comes to get them, so they have been practicing entertaining themselves quietly.

Santana smiles, and opens the door wider, and they both light up seeing her.

"Tana!" Andrea says. Mateo shuts his book quickly, and quickly climbs down from his bed, while Andrea slides out of her bed, dragging her favorite animal, a stuffed lion that used to be Santana's, along with her. Santana quickly helps them change into easy layering clothes, for when they want to go outside, and tell them that they have guests, so they are going to be spies, and sneak into the kitchen. The twins like to play, so making games around the task is a good way to get them to focus. They quietly go downstairs, and Santana nods at her Mami when they pass through the living room, and they head into the kitchen, where Santana asks them what they want.

"Pancakes! Can you make pancakes Tana?" Andrea asks. Mateo nods eagerly, and Santana smiles and nods. She always adds a little bit of sugar, vanilla and cinnamon to her pancakes, and she loves them just as much as the twins do. Santana makes an extra large batch, since she didn't eat either, and she suspects that her Mami and maybe the Smythes will want a few as well.

She finishes her first batch, and gives them to the twins, along with some syrup, butter, and a small container of homemade whipped cream. Santana makes a lot of things from home, they can't afford a ton of luxuries, so she settles for making them. For example, pickles, powdered sugar, and pasta.

The second batch she puts on a plate, and sticks it in the oven, snagging two more for the twins. By the time the third batch is done, the adults plus Sebastian make their way into the kitchen, apparently having finished their conversation, and smell something delicious.

"Hi again, Santana," Arthur says. "What are you making? It smells amazing." Santana smiles at the older male Smythe.

"Pancakes. A special recipe that my Abuela taught me. The twins and I love them. You're welcome to try one," Santana says, addressing all of them, pulling the plate out of the oven, and setting it on the counter. Everyone grabs one, and Santana again grabs two more for the twins, then darts over to the stove to flip the current batch. She hears murmurs of delight from behind her, and smirks.

Maribel goes over to her daughter, and rests her hand on her shoulder, startling her a bit at the gesture.

"Santana? The Smythes will be staying here for a few days until it gets warmer, their house doesn't have heating. I expect you to treat them like guests, _entiendes?_" Santana gulps and nods. _Great. More work,_ Santana thinks. Meanwhile, Maribel turns back to their neighbors. "Ok, um, Alicia and Arthur, you can take the guest room, and we have a fold out couch, or an inflatable mattress for you, Sebastian," Maribel says. They all nod, and Sebastian offers to just take the couch. Maribel sends Santana a silent message, and she wipes off her hands, and, with a smile that Sebastian can see right through, leads them upstairs. She shows them the guest room, and they all set their bags down.

Sebastian sees her look around the room wistfully, and realizes that this must have been her brother's room. He and his parents follow her back downstairs, where Santana goes straight for the kitchen, cleaning up from the pancakes that had all disappeared. Sebastian wonders if she actually got any. They were delicious.

Once Santana finishes, she whispers something to the twins, and they cheer loudly, running up the stairs. Santana smiles to herself and follows them. She still has to setup the guest room, so she made another game for the twins. They know where the sheets are, so while they grab them, Santana fetches her speaker from her room, and plugs it in, playing an upbeat Latin-pop mix for the twins, not very loudly, but loud enough for them to dance and sing along to, all in Spanish so the twins know all the words.

They finish setting up quickly, and while the twins browse through her music, arguing over the next song, Santana puts the spare sheets away, but leaving the ones for the couch out to set up tonight.

She turns off the music, and puts it back in her room, then tells them twins to meet her in the living room. They run after her, and Sebastian is waiting for her, smirking, like usual.

"Andrea, Mateo, _este es _Sebastian. _El se hospeda aquí por un tiempo. Sean amables, por favor?_" Santana explains. They nod. Andrea moves closer to Santana, both of them suddenly shy.

"_El es bonito,_" Andrea whispers to her. Santana snickers at her little sister's statement.

"_Sí, él es guapo. Tratar de hablar en Inglés. El no entiendes Espanol,_" Santana tells them. Andrea smiles shyly at him, and Sebastian chuckles.

"Do I want to know what you are saying?" he asks Santana. Santana shakes her head, and Sebastian goes with it.

"Santana! _Tomar los gemelos fuera!_" Maribel calls from the other room. Santana rolls her eyes, but smiles when she sees the twins excitement.

"_Bien, _Mami!" she calls back. "Do you guys want to go upstairs and grab your stuff?" Santana asks the twins, knowing the answer. They both nod, and race upstairs, leaving Santana chuckling.

"They're really cute," Sebastian says. Santana nods her head, turning to look at him.

"Yeah. I'm supposed to take them outside, so, see you later," Santana says, feeling the air thicken with tension. She doesn't want to talk about last night, and he probably does, but she'll have to eventually, since he's staying at her house.

Santana jogs up to her room, puts on boots, a warm, cream-colored jacket, grabs her hat and gloves, and meets the twins in the hall, both of them with an armful of stuff. She leads them back into their room, where they set their stuff down. She helps them into their snow pants, put on their jackets, hats and mittens. Then, they charge downstairs, and Santana laughs, following them.

Out in the yard, there's a good layer of snow, so the twins go through a rotation of snow activities. They start with a snowman in the corner, do a few snow angels, and a snowball fight emerges when Mateo throws one at Santana, hitting her in the back. She whirls around, and throws one back at him automatically, leading to a snow war of Santana v.s the twins.

Sebastian looks out the back window at the yard, and smiles at the sight. The twins have built a small fort (or Santana built it for them), and Santana's attacking them, and dodging their snowballs with a dancer's grace. She's clearly winning, but lets them score a few hits. The twins call a timeout (like there are those in wars), and while they "strategize", Sebastian takes a chance to look at Santana. Her hair is a bit wet, and curling at the ends, her caramel skin looks even warmer against her cream-colored coat, and her gorgeous dark eyes are full of joy and mischief. Sebastian smiles to himself. He kinda likes this Santana. The happy, fun one. But, he will always like the spitfire one too.

After Santana catches her breath, she smirks, and gets an armful of snow. She sneaks up on the twins, and as soon as they call resume, they look up, and she dumps it on their heads, making them squeal in delight and surprise as it gets down their shirts. They call for a truce, and Santana obliges, suggesting a hot cocoa break. The twins, tired from snow play, go over to the back door, which leads to the mudroom, where all three of them shed their wet layers and boots, and head into the kitchen.

Santana hears the adults talking in the living room, and picks up the twins and sets them on the counter, quickly whipping up some mexican hot chocolate. She makes extra, and lucky thing, because after the twins get theirs, Sebastian comes in, smiling, and asks for some too. She pours him a cup, and then one for herself, and she sets the empty pot in the sink.

Sebastian sips the hot drink cautiously, but discovers that it's very good. It is very hot though, so he sets it on the counter. The twins drinks, cooled with a bit of milk, are gone in a flash, and Santana distracts them with coloring books. While both of the teens' drinks cool, Sebastian looks over at Santana.

"Congrats on winning your snowball fight." Santana flushes a bit, then looks at him.

"Thanks."

"Hey!" the twins both exclaim, looking up from their coloring books.

"We won the fight! Right, Tana?" Andrea asks. Santana laughs, and ruffles the little girl's hair.

"Of course you did, Andie." Both of them look happy with themselves, and go back to their coloring, and when they aren't looking, Santana winks at Sebastian, making him smirk. They both know that Santana won.

Then, Maribel comes into the kitchen, and sees the twins on the counter.

"Santana! _Pontelos en sillas, por favor!_" Santana does as she's told, and sets the twins on the stools, them not even glancing up. "_Cocinar el almuerzo, luego poner a los gemelos a dormir."_ Santana nods, then moves away from the counter, going over to cupboards, and taking things out, and setting them on different counters.

Sebastian watches this, and frowns. Doesn't Maribel know that she's overworking her daughter? Maribel leaves the room, and Sebastian remembers the cocoa. He takes a sip of his drink, and now it's the perfect temperature. It's really good, too. He tastes cinnamon, cayenne, and vanilla. He looks over to Santana's cup, and sees it still full.

"Hey Santana. You're drink's getting cold." Santana looks up, and gives him a grateful smile, for giving her an excuse to take a quick break. After adding a bit of chili powder to her drink (she likes spicy things), Santana jumps up onto a counter, and Sebastian follows, sitting across from her. Santana sips her drink quietly, and Sebastian does the same, but also watching her, the way her lips move, and her expressions every time. It kinda cute, if you can call Santana Lopez that.

Once she drains her cup, Santana reluctantly hops off of the counter, and starts bustling around the kitchen again. She decided on _quesadillas_, they're easy, they're delicious. She employs the same strategy that she did with the pancakes that she never ate. Her stomach growls a bit, and Santana sighs. She hates missing breakfast. She puts the finishes _quesadillas_ on a plate in the oven to keep them warm, and she stuffs them with cheese, beans, corn, onion, and ground sausage. In a special one for her, she sprinkles some jalapeno slices, with the seeds to make them spicier.

Sebastian sees her adding hot peppers, and smiles. Not many people would suspect this, but he likes spicy food too.

"Hey, could you add some of those to mine too?" he asks her. Santana raises an eyebrow.

"I didn't take you for the spicy type." Sebastian shrugs, smirking.

"You never know." Santana shrugs, and puts them in the next one she makes too. Once she finishes, she takes the plate out of the oven, and puts one on each plate, making a small "X" on top with a knife on the ones with jalapeno. Sebastian notices her placing the plates at random, and smiles when she places theirs next to each other by accident.

"Lunchtime!" Santana calls, and the adults file into the dining room, finding a seat at a plate. Santana tells them that the ones with "X"s are spicy, so everyone takes note of that, and sits down. Santana finds herself in between Mateo and Sebastian, Arthur on Sebastian's other side, and Maribel on Mateo's. Alicia and Andrea are set across from Santana, Sebastian and Mateo.

Lunch is over quickly, and the twins are yawning, so Santana picks up Mateo, and tries to pick up Andrea as well. Sebastian sees her struggling, so her gets up and relieves Mateo from her arms. Maribel quickly says that he doesn't have to do that, but Sebastian says that it's fine. Santana gives him a grateful smile, and she picks up Andrea. Sebastian follows Santana up the stairs, and she turns into the twins room, putting Andrea down and tucking her in first, and then taking Mateo from Sebastian and doing the same. When Santana flicks off the lights, the twins wake up a bit, and start talking.

"Can you sing, Tana?"

"Please?" Santana sees how tired they are, and doesn't want to keep them up, but she does love to sing.

"How about when you wake up?" Santana offers.

"Can you do both?" Andrea asks. Santana smiles and nods, and sits down in her chair.

"What song do you want?"

"Can you do my song?" Andrea asks sleepily.

"As long as you do my song afterwards," Mateo says from above. Santana nods, and starts to sing Britt Nicole's _Still That Girl_, acapella.

[Santana]

_I'm holding a picture from seven years back_

_I smile at the memory, it's smiling right back at me, and I see_

_Brown hair and bright eyes, such a beautiful blue_

Santana kneels next to Andrea's bed, and runs her hand through the girl's short brown hair. Santana's eyes are shining at the girl, and Mateo listens quietly from his top bunk. Sebastian listens in awe. He's never heard her voice so raw, so pure, it's beautiful. He can also feel the emotion in the song, she's singing to Andrea, and to herself.

_A heart full of laughter with nothing to lose_

_That's how I remember you_

_You were young, you were free_

_And you dared to believe_

_You could be the girl_

_Who could change the world_

_Then your life took a turn_

_And you fell, and it hurt_

_But you're still that girl_

_And you're gonna change this world_

_Woh oh oh oh oh_

_You're still that girl_

_What if the picture is bigger than you see?_

_And God has you right where he wants you to be_

_Just listen to your heart_

_He's telling you with every beat_

_You're still that girl_

Santana finishes the song, and Andrea smiles sleepily at her, an Sebastian applauds quietly. She smiles a bit at him, and gets her phone out of her pocket, and plays one of Mateo's favorite songs, Celine Dion's version of _Beauty and the Beast_. The little boy smiles, and turns on his side to watch his older sister. Santana starts to sing, planning on taking both parts of the duet, like usual, forgetting about Sebastian's presence. When it comes time, Sebastian smiles, and steps up beside her, and takes the melody from her. She smiles, and joins in, both of them singing along to the song, their voices melding and merging perfectly. Mateo grins sleepily, knowing his twin is already asleep for her nap. _This is even better than just Tana singing it. It sounds so pretty . . . _and with that, the little boy falls fast asleep, right as they finish the song.

With that, Santana silently presses a kiss to each of their foreheads, and slips out of the room silently, Sebastian right behind her. She forgets about him again, and is about to go to her room, but remembers that she has to do the dishes. She groans, and spins around, running straight into Sebastian. He catches her before she hits the ground, and she flushes red.

"Sorry about that. I'm not used to other people around. Thanks."

"No problem," Sebastian replies. "What's the rush?"

"Dishes," Santana sighs. Sebastian frowns as he walks downstairs with her.

"Didn't you cook?" Santana nods.

"So what?"

"I guess my house is different than yours. For us, the person that doesn't cook does the dishes." Santana rolls her eyes, and giggles.

"That would be great, but Mami's to busy playing 'Perfect Hostess' to do the dishes. Plus, I'm here, so why should she do anything?" Santana mutters to herself, surprising Sebastian. Santana realizes that she said that aloud, and looks down. "Sorry. I didn't mean that, I just, um, ugh . . ." Santana realizes that she can't get out of this one, but luckily, Sebastian lets the subject drop. She passes through the living room, where her Mami is talking about the divorce. Santana feels tears prick her eyes, but Maribel gives her a look, and she hurries into the kitchen.

Sebastian hears them talking about the divorce, and he does see Santana getting upset, so he follows her into the kitchen.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Sebastian asks. He sees her surprised by the question, but she shakes her head.

"I've got it."

"I don't doubt that, but from what I've noticed, you work pretty damn hard around here, would it be so bad if I took one small thing off your hands?" Santana sighs, debating the pros and cons. Pro, a little less work, Sebastian would be helping her. Con, her Mami might find her, and she'd get in trouble.

"Sure. Do you want to dry these dishes?" Sebastian nods, and Santana hands him a towel. He steps up to the counter with the wet, clean dishes on them, and starts wiping them off. Soon, he catches up to Santana, and the next dish he takes straight from her hand. Their hands bump in the exchange, and both feel a curious spark. Or something. They both brush it off, until it happens again, and both of their cheeks flush with pink. They turn away from each other, and finish, Santana taking Sebastian's place, and putting all the dishes in their respective locations.

Then, Santana jogs upstairs, Sebastian on her heels, and turns into her room, face-planting on the bed. Sebastian chuckles, and she lifts her head to glare at him. He sits down in Santana's desk chair, and Santana stands, and heads over to her closet. She grabs a letterman jacket, and slips it over her shoulders, and at first, Sebastian thinks it's Puck's. Are they dating now? But, when she turns, he sees the name 'Lopez'. Oh. This must be her dad's. She lies down on the bed again, and stares up at the ceiling.

"Is that your dad's?" Sebastian asks, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah. He passed it down to my brother, but reclaimed it when he died. Then I got it once they divorced," Santana says mindlessly. She gets up, and moves closer to Sebastian. He's confused about this, but understands when she moves past him and messes around with a bluetooth speaker on the desk. Once shes satisfied with the setup, she goes over to another corner of her room, and grabs an acoustic guitar off of a stand. She sits down on her bed, with the guitar, and strums a few chords, tuning by ear. After she's done tuning, she turns on the speaker with a backtrack to Taylor Swift's _Treacherous_.

She strums the guitar part, and sings along, her voice complimenting the song and the guitar, the backtrack adding any other instruments. Sebastian watches and listens in awe. He's never heard her play before, and it's beautiful. Like her. When she gets to the peak of the song, she really gets into it, smiling and belting out the lyrics. When she finishes, Sebastian applauds quietly, she smiles, and puts the guitar away.

"That was amazing," Sebastian says. Santana blushes slightly, and sits on her bed, looking at him.

"Thanks. I have a bunch of songs like that. I make the backtracks online so I can play and sing along myself," Santana tells him.

"Impressive. It sounded amazing."

"The acoustics aren't as good here as they are at the McKinley auditorium," Santana muses. "I would love to practice there sometime," she says, more to herself than Sebastian. They fall into an uncomfortable silence, broken when the door creaks open slowly. Mateo pokes his head in, he's always been an early riser, and the sleepy little boy blushes when both of the teens look at him.

"Tana? Andie's crying, she hit her head rolling out of bed," Mateo informs them. Santana smiles at the little boy, and stands, Sebastian following. In the twins' room, Andie on the floor wailing, and Sebastian marvels at how thick the walls are. He couldn't hear her at all.

Santana swoops down, and picks up the little girl, holding Andrea against her chest, and stroking her short brown hair softly. She walks around the room a little bit, and the girl calms down eventually.

"Shh, _que paso, _Andie?"

"_Una pesadilla, y me cai de la cama,_" Andie sniffles. Santana smiles down at her, and sets her on the bed, kneeling in front of her. She takes a few tissues and wipes off Andie's tear-stained cheeks. The girl calms down, and blinks her eyes a few times. "Tana? I'm still tired, can I sleep in your room?" Andrea asks. Santana nods, and picks up the little girl. Santana sees Mateo already asleep in his bunk, so she takes Andrea to her room, and places her gently on the large bed, the girl already asleep. Santana smiles at her sister, and sits at the end of her bed. Sebastian smiles at her.

"You really are a great big sister to these two," he observes. Santana grimaces half-heartedly and nods.

"Yeah. Ever since Diego died, Mami changed, and now she's . . . yeah. But they never really got her good years, so it's my turn to step up, i guess. I never really did that, I was always a daddy's girl. I preferred him and my brother to Mami and Abuela, Abuela always said that I always liked the guys better," Santana says, smiling at the fond memory.

"Ironic, since you're a lesbian," Sebastian comments. She looks away, and shrugs.

"I don't really know what I am anymore. I can't help but feel that if I'm not actually a lesbian, everything that happened was in vain, and then Abuela wouldn't have to hate me," Santana mumbles. Sebastian's gaze softens.

"Hey. She doesn't hate you, when I saw her that one time, she was always looking at you with these really motherly expressions. Plus, it's normal for teenagers to try and figure out their sexuality. It's never set in stone. You have nothing to feel bad about," Sebastian assures her, sitting next to her on the bed. Santana smirks a bit.

"When did you get so smart?" Sebastian smirks in return.

"I get a good thought every once in a while."

"Really? I didn't think anything happened in there," Santana jokes, making Sebastian glare at her playfully. Andie rolls around a bit, and they both smile. Deciding to let her sleep, they leave the room, and head back downstairs, where the adults are drinking coffee on the couch. They join them, and Maribel gives Santana a thankful look for hanging out with Sebastian. After a bit, Santana goes upstairs to check on the twins, who are both now wide awake. They both ask her to sing, and she grabs her guitar, much to the twins' excitement. Sebastian was looking for Santana, and found her in her room, setting up her speaker for the twins. He smiles, and sits down on the bed, since Santana is at her desk chair. Andrea comes over to him, and sits on his lap, still watching Santana. Both of the teens chuckle, and Mateo comes over as well, and Sebastian shifts so they both can sit on one leg. Santana plays a track, and strums along, singing _Play That Song_, by Train.

The twins squeal in excitement, and get up, and dance around, making Santana and Sebastian grin. Sebastian takes over for the second verse, and they turn it into a beautifully sung duet, much to the twins delight.

When the song finishes, Santana sets her guitar down, and asks them which song they want to hear next.

"Do one of your songs, Tana!" Mateo says.  
"Yeah! Do the dancing one!" Andrea squeals.

"Which dancing one?" Santana laughs. "There's so many!"

"The lullaby one!" Andrea tries. Sebastian gives a confused look, but Santana smiles, and picks a song on her phone.

"Don't worry. This'll be good. Tana always dances with us. You can too," Mateo offers to Sebastian, making him chuckle. Santana starts playing Madonna's _La Isla Bonita_, and starts off with Andrea, dancing in a latin style with her. When she gets to the chorus, she dances solo, and then dances with an eager Mateo for the second verse.

"Your turn, Seb!" Andrea tells him, pulling on his pant leg. Santana smirks, and shakes her shoulders invitingly. Sebastian raises his eyebrows, and walks up to her. She takes his hand, leading him in a Latin-inspired dance. The twins applaud, and watch, enraptured, at the teens' intense, fantastic, chemistry.

They finish the song, Sebastian and Santana very close to the other, but when they realize, they quickly step away. The twins hug them both, they seem to have taken a liking to Sebastian, much to Santana's amusement. She'll always be the favorite, though.

They go downstairs, and they all pile into the living room, the twins taking the beanbag, leaving Santana and Sebastian to take one and a half couch seats next to each other. Santana doesn't exactly mind, but Maribel flashes her a look to let Sebastian be comfortable, and sacrifice her seat. Santana rolls her eyes to herself, but stands off to the side, keeping an eye on the twins. She's decided that she needs some _serious _dance time soon.

Dancing helps her relax loosen up, and it just makes her _happy_. She might not like sharing the extent of it with people, but she shares what she's comfortable with, and that works for her ok, but she wishes that the New Directions had let her choreograph for them. Well, she doesn't care anymore, but if they'd let her do it, instead of use Mr. Schue's old-ass moves, they'd have won Nationals last year, even with the Finchel kiss (blegh!). But, their loss. She's not there anymore, and now have no chance of beating the Warblers, especially if she shows the blazer boys some of her choreographed dance pieces for them.

Sebastian notices Santana deep in thought, and wonders what's up. Then, he gets a text on the Warbler group chat. Apparently, this coming Friday, the New Directions want to have a little show in their auditorium. Sebastian replies that they should go, see how bad these guys are without all of their members. After that's settled, he puts his phone away, and refocuses on the conversation.

Maribel and Alicia are taking a mile a minute about who knows what, and soon, they get up, and go elsewhere. The twins, after pestering Santana, go over to Sebastian, and ask if he wants to see their room. Smiling, he goes upstairs with the two crazies, leaving Santana and Arthur in the living room. Santana takes a seat, and Arthur smiles at her.

"Thank you, Santana." She looks shocked at the sentence, and cocks her head.

"What for?" Arthur smiles.

"A lot of things. First, for doing so much here. I can see how hard you work, with little reprieve, and I want you to know that I greatly appreciate it." Santana flushes, and nods. She doesn't really get thanked for that very often.

"Thank you."

"I know a lot about my son, he tells me almost everything. He's very much a daddy's boy," Arthur continues. Santana chuckles.

"I would know. I've always been a daddy's girl."

"I can tell the divorce hit you hard. And I want you to know that you can talk to me, if you need anything." Santana nods in appreciation, her eyes slowly filling with tears. "And Sebastian tells me a lot about his social life too. I also wanted to thank you for spending so much time with him. He's never really had close friends." Santana blushes, and looks down.

"It's easy spending time with him. The twins seem to like him a lot."

"Yes, he's always wanted younger siblings, even if he'd never admit it. He likes them a lot too. He really likes your family."

"Thank you. You guys are really great too." Arthur smiles, but on the inside, is shaking his head. This girl clearly doesn't see how much his son likes her. Oh boy. This'll be fun. Lot's of secretive glances, eye sex, and sexual tension. Arthur has been a teenage boy before, and he knows exactly what'll happen.

Then, the twins come running down the stairs, and flop onto the couch next to Santana. Sebastian comes a second later, grinning, and sits on one of the chairs.

"Tana? Can we go for a walk?" Mateo asks, getting antsy about being cramped up inside.

"How about you ask your mom?" Arthur suggests, figuring that that would be the smarter move. The little boy frowns.

"But Tana is basically our mom. Mami is like our roommate." Arthur frowns at this, and Santana sighs, sinking into the couch, embarrassed.

"Yeah! Tana cooks, she plays with us, she tucks us in, and she helps us if we're hurt or scared," Andrea lists, confused. With this list, Santana shrinks into the couch cushions as much as she can. "Even though she's our big sister, she's like our _madre_."

"Mother," Santana translates quietly. Arthur looks at her, concerned, and Santana quickly stands up, makes a feeble excuse about something, and darts up the stairs. Sebastian knits his eyebrows, stands, and follows her. At that, Arthur smiles, and turns his attention to the twins.

Santana quickly shuts the door to her room, and sinks down against it. She _really_ doesn't need Sebastian knowing even more about her home life, and how depressing it is. Getting up from the floor, Santana gets her phone, and calls her Papi. After only two rings, he picks up.

"_Mija? Eres tu?_"

"_Sí _Papi."

"_Que tal, mi corazon? Por qué me llamaste?_"

"_Todo. Mi amigo sabe de mi vida. Estoy tan avergonzada!"_

"_Es bien, querida. _Do you want to visit after school sometime this week?"

"_Sí, _that would be amazing. _Gracias_."

"Of course, _mi corazon. Nos vemos entonces."_

"_Nos vemos entonces. Adios._" Santana hang up the phone, and hears a knock at the door. She opens it, and flushes when she sees Sebastian standing there. "I assume you heard my conversation," she assumes. He nods, but smiles.

"Yeah, but I didn't understand any of it."

"That's why I did it in Spanish," Santana mumbles. He offers her a soft smile.

"Can I come in?" she nods, and steps aside, letting him step into the room. She closes the door behind her, and they both sit own on her bed. "Are you ok?" Santana looks up at him quickly, slightly surprised and astonished by the way he said that.

"Really? That's how you want to say that?" she asks him. Sebastian realizes what he said, and they both chuckle softly.

"Sorry. But seriously, are you alright?" Santana sighs, looks down, and shakes her head.

"No, i'm fine. Just a bit embarrassed, i guess."

"Of you family? They're amazing," Sebastian assures her honestly.

"No, not of them, but my life at home, i guess. I'm not even eighteen, and I'm basically already a mom to two kids. I work my ass off, and I get surprised every time someone recognizes that, or thanks me for it," Santana says bitterly.

"Hey. That's not that bad. You're by far the most mature seventeen year old I've ever met."

"Is that really a good thing? You can't be young forever, and everyone says to enjoy it while it lasts, but I can't. I want to be a normal teenager, but I haven't been a kid since I was thirteen."

"That early?" Sebastian asks, shocked at the young age. Santana nods sullenly.

"Once Diego died, that was kinda it for my childhood. Because then the twins were born, and I was the only one that could put them to sleep, so Mami just got used to having me do everything. When Papi and Abuela were still around, they could take a bit of work off my shoulders, but now . . ." Santana sighs, and flops backwards, staring up at the ceiling.

"Maybe I could cook dinner tonight? Give you a break?" Sebastian offers. Santana shakes her head.

"Mami would have me hanged if a guest was cooking dinner," Santana says, rolling her eyes. Sebastian smiles.

"Well, i'm sure I could get her to come around. I'm very persuasive, plus I do like to cook, so I think I have pretty good chances." Santana smiles, and sits up.

"Please, try. If it works, well, I get a break, and if it doesn't, at least I get to laugh and say 'I told you so'." Sebastian smirks, and Santana smirks back at him. They both stand up, and Sebastian pulls the Latina in for a quick hug, to her surprise. He smiles at her, and they head downstairs, where they laugh seeing Arthur trying to wrangle the twins.

"_Escucha!_" Santana snaps. At hearing their sister speak in Spanish, both the twins freeze, and look up at her, giving Arthur time to stand up, and join Sebastian, the younger boy telling the older man about what happened. Santana walks over to them, and in Spanish, tells them to be a little calmer around the Smythes. They understand, and then Mateo asks again, in rapid Spanish, if they can go for a walk. Santana pokes her head into the kitchen, and finds Maribel and Alicia, and tells them that she, the twins, Arthur and Sebastian are going for a walk. They decide to join them, so they all bundle up, and head out into the snow.

Maribel and Alicia take the lead, still chatting animatedly about whatever they have left to talk about, they're followed by Arthur and the twins, who are telling him everything about their favorite shows, and Santana and Sebastian bring up the rear in silence.

They're both so caught up in their silence, that soon, they stray from the group, and find themselves alone in the snow.

"Wait. Where is everybody?" Sebastian asks. Santana looks around and shrugs.

"We must've split up."

"Won't your mom be worried?" Sebastian asks. Santana shakes her head.

"Nah. She knows that I know Lima Heights like the back of my hand. I basically can't get lost, and she knows I know how to defend myself."

"Will they need defense?" Sebastian asks, confused.

"No. The gangs here only corner or hassle teens, and only if they're by themselves."

"Like we are now?" Sebastian asks. Santana nods.

"Yeah, we're probably the perfect target. This'll be fun. Let's go." Santana takes his arm, and leads him through a series of residential streets before finding themselves on a main road filled with small businesses and shops. "Lima Heights Main Street. Has almost anything you could need. Come on."

**A/N: Sorry if the chapters are short. I'm trying to get them longer. I'll try to keep posting, but school's almost over, and I have stuff to do. Fingers crossed!**


	10. Welcome to Lima Heights

As they walk down the surprisingly brightly lit street, Sebastian removes his hand from his pocket, and slides his arm out of Santana's grasp, replacing it with his hand, twining his fingers with hers. She looks up at him, and when she does, she looks so innocent to Sebastian. Like she a kid again. He's happy she can take a break for at least a little while. Santana smiles, and leads him into a small shop that looks really ratty from the outside. Ignoring Sebastian hesitant face, she pulls him inside, and inside, it's cozy, warm, and homey. Sebastian eyes widen, and Santana snickers. She walks over to the counter, and a stout woman in probably her 50's smiles at them.

She lights up when she recognizes Santana, and hugs her across the counter. Santana starts talking in a foreign language, and Sebastian tunes out a bit, figuring he won't understand, but when the words reach his ears, he knows what they're saying. Sebastian watches in amazement as Santana converses smoothly in French to the old woman, ordering them both a drink.

"_Merci,_ Jeanne," Santana says.

"_De rien,_ Santana," Jeanne responds, and then hurries off to fulfill her order. Santana calmly walks over to a couch, and sits down, Sebastian following her.

"I didn't know you knew French, _mademoiselle_," Sebastian says, smirking.

"It's how I get language credits at McKinley since I already know Spanish, _monsieur_," Santana replies swiftly. After conversing in perfect French for a bit, Santana's name is called, and they both stand up to grab their order. Santana's about to pay, when Jeanne insist that it's on the house. Santana smiles gratefully, Sebastian thanks her in French, and they sit down again.

"You're really good at French for only learning it for four years," Sebastian comments as he sips his coffee. "Mmm, this is really good."

"I know right?" Santana says, taking a sip of her own. "And I have a natural gift with languages. I always have. It's easy. I'm planning on doing a few years of Italian, since its similar to Spanish, and then fully learning Mandarin, Arabic, or German." Sebastian raises his eyebrows.

"Planning on travelling the world?" He jokes. Santana sighs.

"I wish. I'd love to travel the world, but sadly, we don't even have enough funds to fly back to Mexico for the summer."

"If you let me come with you, Ms. Language Expert, then I could help finance your incredible journey," Sebastian says, mock-formally. Santana snickers.

"Please, no more Journey."

"Like the band?"

"Yes. Sophomore year, Mr. Schue was _obsessed_. He was like 'Come on, guys, there's got to be a Journey song we haven't done yet!'. It was _so _annoying." Sebastian smirks.

"I can imagine. That sounds like torture." Santana laughs, and they both set down their drinks, leaning back against the couch.

They talk for a little bit, switching between French and English, until they finish their drinks, say goodbye to Jeanne, and exit the shop. The cold wind greets them sharply, and Sebastian slides his hand into Santana's again. After exploring Lima Heights main Street for a bit, (Sebastian took note of Santana's favorite spots, and items she seems to like), they round a corner into an alley on a shortcut back to their houses. As they get into the darkest part of the alley, a group of four roughed up guys surround them.

"Yo Skunk! What'd we got here?" one of them jeers.

"I dunno, Dumpster," The one named Skunk says, leering at the two. Sebastian looks at Santana, who looks perfectly calm, tossing her hair impatiently. "Looks like a hot chick and her pretty boy."

"What'd you say we take him off of her hands, eh, Fen?" another one suggests.

"I say we keep her. Seems like a pretty thing, too," the fourth one says.

"Like you'd even dare," Santana snaps. The guys' eyes widen, like they recognize her voice. "Yeah, that's right, Satan's here." With that, she let's go of Sebastian's hand, and goes in. The fourth one, Fen, goes out first, with a few well aimed punches, the third one goes down just as fast. Dumpster tries to run, but Santana pins him to a wall, and knees him in the groin. Finally, she takes out Skunk with a high powered roundhouse kick. Then, she dusts off her hands, flips her hair, grabs Sebastian's hand, who'd been staring at the whole thing, and starts walking down the rest of the alley.

"What the hell was that?" Sebastian asks once they get out of the alley. Santana wrinkles her nose in distaste.

"That? Oh, that was just the Skunks. They're too easy. They get intimidated by just my voice. At least they know not to mess with me, some of the worst gangs are more persistent."

"There are worse groups? They were gonna, like, rape you!" Sebastian says insistently. Santana shrugs.

"Meh. they wouldn't have gotten away with it anyways. They tend to do that with girls, guys are a bit safer, unless they're dorks, or wimpy, they can see right through that, and then they'll just beat you up."

"Lima Heights seems like a dangerous neighborhood," Sebastian notes.

"Yeah, but I love the danger aspect of it. And once you get a tough reputation, or at least know how to defend yourself, you can appreciate it more. It's actually really nice." Santana steers them down another street, heading for the park.

"That was a nice kick," Sebastian comments.

"Yeah. I took a lot of lessons as a kid. Martial arts, helpful for living here; dance, it's amazing, and good in glee club; gymnastics, worked wonders for my flexibility on Cheerios; swimming, frisbee, and basically anything else you can think of," Santana says as they arrive at the park. "I was really active. Basically anything physical with my body I could do, and liked to do it. I still remember everything, even though I don't take classes anymore."

"That's really neat. I did soccer as a kid, but I do lacrosse now. I did take dance for a few years. Most of the time I just kinda hung out at home. I didn't have a lot of friends as a kid."

"Really? You seem really popular," Santana comments. They sit down on a bench overlooking a duck pond, frozen over.

"Yeah, that started freshman year. How about you?"

"Um, Puck and I, we met in, like, preschool and have been best friends ever since. I met Britt and Q in middle school, so I took a lot of time balancing between passions and hobbies, and friends."

"Seems like you four are pretty tight."

"Yeah."

"Are you and Puck . . . like, together?" Santana snorts, and shakes her head.

"God, no. We're best friends. We did "date" during freshman year to climb the social ladder, but no. We've never actually dated, and we never will." Sebastian find this reassuring, slightly.

"What about you and Brittany?" Instantly, Santana's mood darkens a bit.

"Um, same deal, except we tried to date, but it didn't work. We're just BFF's." Sebastian lets that satisfy his curiosity, and it seems like it's still a touchy subject for Santana.

"So, how's glee club? Still arguing over everything?"

"No clue. Britt, Puck, Q, and I quit."

"Why?" Another touchy subject.

"Um, let's just say, they made their opinions of me clear, and the three of them, being actually my friends, quit along with me."

"Do you miss it?" Santana s quiet for a moment, and then nods.

"Yeah. I miss the singing and dancing. Also, it was kinda nice thinking that we were a family, and we all had each other's backs. But they're just ungrateful jerks with their heads in their own asses," Santana spits. Sebastian hold her hand tighter, and give it a comforting squeeze. "Thanks. We should probably be heading back before it gets too dark. We don't want my mom to have to cook dinner herself," Santana says sarcastically. Sebastian sighs, and they head back through a maze of streets before Sebastian recognizes their street. They approach the Lopez house, and Santana leads him around back to take off their wet boots and jackets.

The warm house greets them, along with two twins, slightly tired from walking. Santana picks up Mateo, and after some convincing from Santana that there's no reason to be shy, Sebastian picks up Andrea, and the four head into the living room. Santana tosses Mateo onto the couch, and flops on the beanbag. Andrea wriggles out of Sebastian's arms, and Mateo follows her, both of them cuddling up to Santana's sides. Santana hugs them both, and then sits up, looking over at the wall clock. She groans.

"Ugh, I have to go make dinner, guys. Do you want to watch something while I cook?" Sebastian remembers his idea to cook dinner, so he goes off to find Maribel. His parents are in the guest room talking, and he finds Maribel's office, and knocks.

"Maribel?" She opens the door, and smiles at him.

"Hello Sebastian. Is there something you need? I'm sure Santana could help you if you needed." Hew frowns internally at her willingness to load everything onto Santana.

"Actually, I was wondering if I could cook dinner tonight."

"Oh, no, you definitely shouldn't have to cook dinner, you are our guest after all. I'll go talk to Santana. Thank you for alerting me." Maribel hurries down, the hall, an Sebastian groans. He just probably made more work for her, and now he's in for an 'I told you so' from Santana. Great.

He finds her and Maribel in the kitchen, but when he enters, Maribel smiles at him, and leaves. Santana looks at him.

"Just say it," Sebastian says, rolling his eyes playfully.

"I _told _you so!" Santana says proudly, smirking at him. He sees that it's a little strained, so he goes over to her, and crosses his arms.

"If I'm not going to cook myself, the _least_ I can do is help out. I can be your kitchen slave." Santana giggles, and nods.

"But if my mom gets mad, it's your fault."

"Yes, Ma'am," Sebastian says, smirking. Santana rolls her eyes, and tells him to start chopping vegetables for her _ropa vieja_.

"Um, translation?" Sebastian asks. Santana smirks.

"You sure you want to know?" Sebastian nods as he cuts a bell pepper. "Fine. It means 'old clothes'."

"What?" Santana laughs at Sebastian's expression.

"It's stewed shredded beef and vegetables. It's traditionally Cuban, and even though my grandfather on my Papi's side is Mexican, along with Mami's family, Abuela's Puerto Rican, and her _madre_ is Cuban. We're kinda like a mix of a lot of Hispanic countries. I have some relatives from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile also."

"Wow. That's really cool."

"What about you?" Santana asks as she cooks some beef.

"Um, my family is more northern European. Both my parents have French, but my mom has some relatives in Germany, and dad has a few in Britain." Santana nods, and washes the meat juice off of her hands. She darts upstairs, and comes back a second later with her speaker and her phone. She plays an album, one of the ones from her bulletin board, _Good Girl Gone Bad_. Sebastian remembers her performing the title track at Dalton. Now, though, it's _I Hate That I Love You_, a duet by Rihanna and Ne-Yo. Santana sings along as she works, and Sebastian takes the other side of the duet. They sing together, and it sounds really good. They get all of the ingredients in the pot, and then go into the living room, seeing the twins with a phone in their hands, watching some show in Spanish. Santana chuckles at what is happening, since it's kind of a stupid kid show, and Sebastian listens, with no idea what's going on.

The whole group eats dinner, then, while the adults retire to the living room, and after Santana puts the twins to bed, Sebastian and Santana do the dishes, talking more. They're both becoming more and more comfortable around each other, though each is sure that they have feelings that aren't returned. Santana has really grown to like this Sebastian, the funny, kind, considerate, pleasant one. She wishes that he liked her the same way. Sebastian really likes this side of Santana. She's helpful, caring, fun, and happy. He likes her even more now, but is positive that she only thinks of him as a friend, he's been friend-zoned. Both like the new sides of the other, even though they'll always find that spitfire, sarcastic, sassy side deathly attractive.

Due to the fact that the adults are occupying the couch, Sebastian's planned bed, the teens decide that he'll use the air mattress. Santana isn't sure where to put it, but offers up her floor, since she has space, space that she normally uses to dance. Sebastian agrees, and they both agree to put it up against the wall during the day, to keep it out of the way. Santana and Sebastian set up the bed, and Sebastian lies down on it, bouncing a few times to test it. Santana smirks at him, and he winks at her in response.

Santana goes over to her closet, and tosses a tank top and shorts on her bed. She then quickly changes, pointedly ignoring Sebastian staring at her. She then slides under her blanket, and shuts her eyes.

After getting a close up view of Santana changing, Sebastian does the same, closing his eyes. Santana gets up and flicks off the lights, and then lies down again. They both lie in silence, and after a bit, Santana's breathing slows. Sebastian smiles to himself, and is about to fall asleep, when he hears her breathe in sharply. Her breaths become more staggered, and she starts tossing and turning. Frowning to himself, Sebastian turns to face her, and sees that she's curled up, holding her arms, her eyes shut tightly. _She must be having a nightmare_, Sebastian figures.

"_No, _Papi, _no. Por favor, no te vayas. No me dejes," _Santana cries in her sleep. Sebastian shoots up, and sees tears streaming down her cheeks. He gets up, and goes over to the Latina, concerned. He puts his hand on her shoulder, and shakes her a bit, trying to get her to wake up. After a few seconds, her eyes shoot open, and she jolts up. Realizing her situation, she puts her head in her hands, calming herself.

"Santana. What was that?" Sebastian asks gently.

"_Una pesa-_ um, a nightmare," Santana says shakily, correcting herself from Spanish, which Sebastian appreciates.

"What was it about?" Sebastian asks.

"My Papi. It was him leaving. Again."

"Do these happen often?" Sebastian asks, knitting his eyebrows in concern. Santana nods slowly.

"Yeah. About once a week. That's why i don't do anything about how hard I work. I figure that if I work hard enough, i'll get tired enough that I won't dream, because when I dream . . . well, this happens," Santana admits softly.

"San . . . when did this start?"

"Thirteen. First it was Diego dying, then Abuela hating me, and now it's Papi, and the fucking glee club," Santana mutters, wiping her eyes.

"Does anything help? Like your dad's jacket?" Sebastian tries. Santana shakes her head sadly.

"It starts off ok, but it always ends badly. They always do." Santana realizes what's happening, and faceplants into her pillow. "Oh, shit. I'm sorry. You don't have to deal with my crap. Sorry for waking you up. Just ignore it next time." Sebastian frowns.

"Santana, I want to help. This seems kinda intense. Is there anything I can do?" Santana shakes her head.

"No. You don't need to do anything. This is my shit, not yours," Santana insists. Sebastian shakes his head.

"Nu-uh. What do you do when the twins have nightmares?" Sebastian asks. Santana is a bit confused by the question, but shrugs.

"They normally come in here, and I cuddle with them until they fall asleep."

"Then that's what's going to happen," Sebastian says. He's acting calm, but on the inside, he's looking forwards to holding Santana again. Santana sighs in defeat, and lies on her side. Sebastian takes this as an invitation, so he goes over to the other side, and rolls behind her, holding her to him. Santana curls up against his chest, and lets his arms wrap around her. She relaxes her head back against him, and he leans his forehead against the back of her head. They are both about to fall asleep, when Santana's door cracks open, and Andrea pokes her head in.

"Tana? _Tengo una pesadilla_. Wait, Seb? Is that you?" the little girl mumbles sleepily. Santana lifts her head up, and smiles at the girl. Santana waves her over, and Andrea takes her place in Santana's arms.

"So, Andie, you know how I help you when you have nightmares?" Andrea nods. "Well, I had a nightmare, and Seb is helping me." Andrea nods again, in understanding, and promptly falls asleep. Santana smiles, and then does the same thing. Sebastian looks at the gorgeous girl in his arms for a minutes, then falls asleep as well.

Early in the morning, Andrea wakes up first. She sees her big sister with Sebastian, and smirks to herself. She wiggles her way out of Santana's arms, and then tip-toes over to the door. She turns the lock on the handle, smiles to herself, and then closes it behind her, heading to her own room.

An hour later, Sebastian wakes up. He notices that Andrea is gone, and Santana's hands are clasped around his own. He smiles, and remains in place, not wanting to disturb the tired Latina, the only movement he makes is gently pulling her closer to him. He closes his eyes again, and thinks about the girl in his arms.

Santana wakes up an hour later, feeling more rested than she has in a while. She notices Sebastian's arms around her, and smiles. She gently moves out of his arms, and off the bed, quickly changing into her Cheerios uniform. She then grabs his pillow from his bed, and throws it at him.

"Hey!" Sebastian says, jerking awake.

"Hey yourself. We both have school today, last I checked, so you might want to get up. Your uniform is clean, by the way. I washed it a few days ago, it's hanging in your parent's room," Santana says while pulling on her Adidas sneakers. She basically is trying to act normal to ignore and pretend last night never happened. Hopefully, he'll go along with it. Sebastian goes and grabs his uniform, his parents are still asleep, and comes back as Santana is fixing her hair. "You know, you can change in the bathroom." Sebastian smirks.

"Well, you're about to leave, so I figure I'll be fine in here."

"Whatever. Just don't go through my stuff," Santana says hurriedly. She then quickly darts across the hall to wake up the twins. She's impressed that Andrea managed to go back to her own bed, and fall asleep. She gently shakes them both awake, and once they're dressed for playing in the snow at school, the three go downstairs, where Maribel is sipping coffee, and reading the newspaper at the dining room table. Sebastian joins them a second later, dressed in his infamous Dalton uniform.

Santana shows him where the food is, and then hands the twins bowl of cereal. As they eat, she quickly makes french toast for the adults, per her mother's request. Then, once that's done, she puts the twins' dishes away, and grabs their backpacks, and Maribel takes them into her car. Santana sighs once the three are out of the house, and Sebastian watches her in concern. Santana looks at him and shrugs.

"That's the price for sleeping in. No breakfast. I'm going to pick something up at the Lima Bean, though." Arthur and Alicia come down the stairs, Santana tells them that there is french toast in the oven for them, then grabs her Cheerios bag, and darts out the door. Sebastian stands by the window, and watches her quickly text somebody. A car pulls up in front of the house, Santana gets in, and then she disappears.

"Thanks for driving me, Puck," Santana says breathlessly. Puck smiles knowingly.

"Busy morning?"

"Tell me about it. I slept in, so I haven't eaten anything yet, and I had to make breakfast for the Smythes, since their house doesn't have heating, so they're staying with us," Santana tells him. "It's, like, double the work now having to cook for everybody, and play perfect hostess for those guys." Puck rests his hand on her knee comfortingly, and she smiles. He pulls up to the Lima Bean, Santana dashes in, buys two coffees and a muffin, and gets back in the car, handing Puck one of the coffees, and munching on her muffin. The two arrive at McKinley, and they both hop out quickly as to not be late, Puck for a prank meeting, and Santana for an early Cheerios practice.

The rest of the week goes similarly, except Santana doesn't have any nightmares, so Sebastian sleeps on the air mattress. But every morning is filled with rushing around the house, and each afternoon has more work in store. Every day, Sebastian tries to convince her to take a break, or let him do something, but every time, Maribel intervenes, saying that Santana is fine, and that since he's a guest, he doesn't have to do any housework.

Brittany and Quinn have been updated on the Smythes living with the Lopez's for the time being, and internally, Brittany is cheering. She and Santana are back on best friend ground, and now it's time for Operation Sebtana. The four of them have rejoined the glee club, reluctantly, and after each of them gave Santana a long spiel of apologies. The slushie war has calmed a bit, but they are still getting slushied, save the four, and Santana isn't doing anything yet. The four and the rest of them are still a bit awkward, though. Brittany is really excited for the meet-up with the Warblers on Friday, it's a golden opportunity to help out her best friend.

**A/N: Sorry the chapter is so short. The next one will be longer, I promise. **


	11. Dancing Queen

On Friday, after school, the Warblers enter the McKinley auditorium. Santana is standing with the New Directions onstage, more of, she, Quinn, Brittany and Puck are standing in a clump, and the New Directions are near them.

Santana notices that Sebastian is back to bastard-mode, and he sees that she's back in bitch-mode. Santana also notices that Hunter is with them. Good for him, it looks to her like he finally manned up and joined already. He'll be in the back for a bit, that's always how it works, but she's pretty sure that he'll make his way to the front. Hunter winks at her discreetly, and she smirks. As the Warblers take their positions, they're set to go first, Jeff, Nick, Thad, Trent, Hunter and Sebastian all give her subtle waves, which she returns.

The Warblers start with a choreographed version of _Uptown Funk_, by Bruno Mars, and it works surprisingly well. Santana, as usual, takes notes of their dancing, their moves, where they could use work, and how she would have done it. Usually, that means more extravagant and impressive, but they don't do that as much in performances, only practice.

Then the New Directions go, doing a Finchel duet, leaving the rest of them harmonizing in the background. No actual choreography whatsoever. Santana rolls her eyes so only Jeff, Nick, Hunter, and Puck can see. Sebastian notices this too. Don't they know that Santana is an incredible dancer?

They finish, and the Warblers are less than intimidated. The New Directions leave, and the Warblers follow, but Jeff notices his cousin lingering behind. Quinn notices too, and texts Santana, asking her to stay behind for a bit to help with her dancing, since Quinn isn't the most confident dancer. Santana responds that she would love to, and they both invite Brittany too. They both have to do something, but they'll be there as soon as they can. Santana looks out at the empty auditorium. She smiles to herself, and takes her speaker out of her bag.

Jeff saw Santana hanging back, and figured that she was going to do some dancing, so all of the Warblers, they all respect Santana, go up to the balcony seats to watch secretly. They see her pull out her speaker, and clear off the stage. She sheds her cheerios jacket, and grabs a guitar from the wings of the stage. She takes a stool, and sits down, tuning the guitar to herself. Then, she strums a chord loudly, the sound reverberating through the room. Jeff smiles. He knows how his cousin likes to play guitar. She starts strumming a melody, and the speaker plays backup. Santana starts to sing Taylor Swift's _Fearless_, and Sebastian, who's sitting next to Jeff, whispers to him, "I didn't know she liked Taylor Swift." Jeff smiles and shrugs.

"She likes a lot of artists."

When Santana reaches the chorus, she stands, and switches her guitar for an electric one, smiling as she strums the guitar hard, letting her thoughts fly free. She decided on this song, it's accurate, and it's actually a good song. At the end, she plays an epic electric guitar riff, setting down the guitar afterwards, satisfied. Some of the Warblers lift their hands to clap, but Jeff shushes them.

"She'll stop if she knows we're here. She's not done. Let it happen." Jeff knows that he's technically spying on the enemy, but he wants their friends to know how amazing Santana is. Santana sets the stool aside, and a slowish guitar piece comes on her speaker. She smiles, and takes center stage. Then, the music for _Whenever, Wherever_, by Shakira comes on, and Santana does a spin, and launches into an intricate Latin-inspired dance routine. She doesn't sing along, but she feels the lyrics. Jeff smiles.

"San and I have done the tango to this song before," he whispers.

"I didn't know you could tango, Jeff," Thad whispers back.

"I can't really. Santana can though, fantastically, and she can lead you, and make it look amazing even if you've never done it before."

Santana moves her hips a bit, Shakira-style, and Sebastian and Hunter's eyes widen.

"She really is like Shakira," Sebastian says. Jeff looks at him, confused. "I used to call her Sha-queer-a, but seriously," Sebastian says in awe. _Her hips really don't lie,_ Sebastian thinks. Jeff snickers, as if guessing what he's thinking, and turns back to look at the dancing Latina, who's just finishing the song.

Santana really likes this song, plus, it goes with her feelings currently, and the theme she's had so far. She finishes up the song, slightly breathless, and takes a deep breath. This is what she loves to do, and she feels amazing doing it. It allows her to let go of whatever is going on in her life, and just . . . dance. Then, she sees Quinn and Brittany offstage, and waves to them. They hug her, and ditch their jackets as well.

"So, before we work on this," Santana says, gesturing dramatically to Quinn, making the blonde smirk, "How about a little warm up?" Santana picks another song on her phone, and uptempo dance music starts, Brittany taking center stage for the first verse of _Bang Bang_, by Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj. Brittany sings the first part, gesturing to Santana, who's moving her body seductively.

The Warblers watch with wide eyes. This just got even better. Jeff and Nick smirk, and hold hands as the straight Warblers (yes there are a bunch) gawk at the three sexy dancing girls.

Quinn takes the Ariana Grande part, and does a few sultry dance move to compliment the lyrics. Brittany and Santana dance a bit, and then Santana takes center, spewing the fast rap lyrics traditionally sung by Nicki Minaj. She does some sexy dance moves with it, working her body expertly to the music. They all dance easily together for the last chorus and verses, and they finish the song, high fiving each other.

"Great. Now help me," Quinn says. Santana laughs, and picks out another song. A slightly Latin dance beat starts, and Santana gestures at Brittany to start of Meghan Trainor's _Better When I'm Dancin'_. Santana takes the bridge, and for the chorus, she models a quick dance, Brittany copies, and Quinn does the same, both dancers congratulating the ex-Cheerio after she does it. They continue in a similar format for the rest of the song, practicing dancing in sync, and some moves that are more likely for a show choir performance.

When they finish, Santana and Brittany high-five Quinn, who looks much more confident now, and then the two blondes leave the auditorium. Santana, seeing that they're gone, scrolls through her phone, looking for a specific song.

The Warblers are about to get up, but Jeff tells them to sit down. The best is yet to come. The grand finale.

Santana grins when the song she wants appears, and presses play, taking center stage. Uptempo electronic dance music starts, and she spins into a _very_ complicated routine. She starts to sing as well, the song, _Dance Again_, by the one and only Jennifer Lopez. The boys marvel at her talent, and how she's able to sing so well while dancing like that. This song also fits Santana's theme, and fits her feelings. She loves to dance, and she has feelings that she sorta knows what to do with. But not really.

For the Pitbull part, there aren't any lyrics, so she just goes with a intense, impressive dance sequence for the very simple beat. Santana likes simple beats, they give her more artistic control and freedom. She often says that she doesn't tell her body how to move, the music does.

She finishes the song, breathless, and very happy with herself. Slightly sweaty, and still warm from dancing, Santana texts Puck, and doesn't bother putting her jacket on, exiting the auditorium, and heading out into the parking lot. Puck is doing a prank with Sam and Mike, for some re-bonding time, and once he finishes, he had promised that he'd get her.

The Warblers sit in silence for a bit. They weren't the least bit intimidated by the New Directions, but _damn_. That Lopez is scary to them. Now, they really are worried. They know that if she's in charge, they're _dead_. And Jeff knows that that is just how Santana likes it to be.

When Puck drops her off, Santana quickly heads upstairs, the twins aren't home yet, Maribel is currently picking them up, so she has time for a quick shower. She does so, and changes into cropped jeans, a black tank top, and a thin gray hoodie over it. Once she finishes putting her hair up into a bun, the door opens, and Santana figures that its the twins, so she goes downstairs, only to find Sebastian. She waves at him,and they stand there awkwardly for a minute before they both go upstairs. Santana goes to the twins' room to clean up after them, and Sebastian heads to the guest room, where his clothes are, to change out of his uniform.

Sebastian doesn't know what to say to Santana. After that amazing show in the auditorium . . . just wow. She's acting a bit weird as well, so they both decide to leave it at that. Them sleeping together doesn't happen again, though.

They meet up again in Santana's room, and Sebastian sits on her desk chair while she flops onto her bed. Sebastian yearns to break the awkward tension, so he looks over at Santana, and smiles at her.

"Nice show." She sits up, and looks at him.

"Thanks, I guess."

"You guess?"

"I didn't do anything. But I suppose that's how Regionals is going to go anyways, so I should be getting used to it by now."

"You mean Wannabe Streisand and Frankenteen taking all the solos?" Santana nods bitterly.

"Yep," she says. "All the rest of us do is sway in the back like props."

"Yeesh. I actually feel sorry for you guys. Have they ever seen you dance? I know that you like it a lot," Sebastian offers. Santana shrugs and shakes her head.

"No. Not many people have, actually. Jeff has, and Nick of course, since the two are inseparable. But other than them, just Puck, Quinn and Britt."

"And the Warblers, right?"

"Yeah, I guess them too."

They fall into silence again, neither of them knowing what to say, until the twins come bounding into the room, tackling their sister onto the bed.

Brittany arrives at her home, and pulls out a blue journal with a glittery white unicorn on the cover. She flips through the pages of her planner, and studies them. She had written down her steps on the first page, then logged down everything that happened, everything she had noticed between her people before and during the first step of her master plan. She flips to the next blank page, and titles it "Step Two: the Friend Zone".

She glances up at the lazy cat on her bed.

"Stop glaring, Lord Tubbington. I'm trying to help Sanny, and I know you're in a gang. Stop lying." She rolls her eyes, and turns back to her notes. She wrote down everything she noticed when the Warblers visited McKinley. She smiles. She definitely didn't miss the fact that Sebastian could not take his eyes off of Santana. And it's just even better that he's staying with her family while it's still super cold. The next step, after her and San's break up, is for Sebastian and Santana to be friends. Like, comfortable around each other, hanging out, talkative friends. She knows that both of them honestly do like each other, so this should be a quick step, since they won't want to get permanently friend-zoned. They won't, if Brittany S. Pierce has anything to say about it.

Step three is her favorite. Singing! And dancing. She, with some help from the New Directions, are going to arrange another meet up with the Warblers, to "ensure no hard feelings after the slushie incident", and they are all going to mix up teams, and sing with a bunch of people, and her plan is for Sebastian and Santana to have a one-on-one. Brittany is planning to have everyone vote on the song, and she has the perfect song in mind. Plus, she'll have to get the New Directions and the Warblers on board with the idea of the two being together as well. Hopefully that'll go smoothly.

Step four is for emergencies. She kinda does want to see it happen, but it won't happen unless step three doesn't work. Step four is a little more classic. Lock them in a small space until they get together via a heavy make-out session. Maybe, considering the subjects, a bit of closet sex. Plus a video camera in the closet, but that's just for Brittany. Maybe blackmail for later if they don't get together, or if they deny it.

Brittany closes her notebook, and smiles down at it. Then, she turns back to Lord Tubbington, who had somehow acquired a motorcycle jacket. Brittany sighs, and frowns at him.

"Lord Tubs . . . will I need to bail you out of jail again?"

The next day, Santana gets up quickly, and changes into her work clothes before Sebastian wakes up. He wakes up as she's putting up her hair, and mumbles sleepily, "Tana? What time is it? Why you up so early?"

Santana sighs, and looks over at him. "Shh. Go back to sleep. I'm fine."

It's too late, he's already awake, and looking at confusedly.

"Where are you going, Santana?" Santana sighs.

"None of your business, Twink," Santana says gently, trying to get him to go back to sleep. Sebastian sits up defiantly, and crosses his arms.

"Santana. . ." Before Sebastian can get another word in, Santana slips out of the room, letting her Mami know that she's leaving for work.

She slides into her Mami's car, since it's cold outside, and drives away from her house, towards central Lima. She arrives quickly at the tire shop, and gets to work. She works quickly, with nothing out of the ordinary, and at 4:00, she waves goodbye to her coworkers and drives back home. She hopes that Sebastian will let her off the hook, but she doesn't want him to know that she works on the weekends.

She parks the car, and sneaks in the back, shedding her dirty jacket in the laundry room. She darts upstairs, and changes into clean leggings, warm socks, and a t shirt. She takes her stained clothes and tosses them into the laundry room. She goes back into the living room, wondering where everyone is, when someone speaks behind her.

"Them and the twins went to the park. I stayed behind to wait for you," Sebastian says calmly. Santana whips around to see him casually leaning against the door frame to the kitchen. He straightens, and saunters over to her. "So, do you want to tell me where you are working, or are you going to leave me to follow you next time?" Santana rolls her eyes.

"Neither. The twins tell you?" she guesses. He nods in confirmation. "Yeah. I work on weekends. So?"

"So, why do you work so fucking hard?"

"This is how I get spending money. This is how I pay for travel money for Nationals. What's it to you?" Sebastian steps closer slowly.

"Because, we're friends, right?" Santana nods, even though it hurts a bit. "And I could help, if you wanted. I'm here if you need me, remember that." Santana nods, and Sebastian's hard gaze softens. Santana flops onto the couch, and Sebastian goes over, and sits next to her. He's assuming that she won't tell him exactly where she works, but he'll figure it out. Eventually.

After a little while, The rest of their families come back home, and just as Santana is getting up to start dinner, Maribel pulls her aside.

"Santana. I want to talk to you. About your glee club." Santana frowns a bit, hut goes over to her Mami. "I think you should quit."

"What?"

"It's a waste of your time. You spend your afternoons singing useless songs and wasting energy dancing when you could be here-"

"Doing all the housework?" Santana interrupts. Maribel glares at her, and continues.

"Yes, and I plan for you to quit this week. I don't want you dancing anymore. It's not a good career choice. Luckily that fool activity doesn't cost anything." Maribel mutters this last bit to herself, and seeing as her Mami has made up her mind on the matter, Santana rushes upstairs, tears in her eyes. Maribel calls after her, yelling at her to start diner, and Santana replies that she will in a few minutes.

Maribel follows her upstairs, and sees Santana forcefully yanking on her headphones. Shaking her head, Maribel snatches them from Santana, and Santana can't do anything but watch helplessly as her mom takes away her headphones, speaker, and guitar.

Once Maribel leaves her room, and face plants on her bed. She pulls out her phone, and calls her Papi.

"_Hola?_"

"Papi!"

"Santana! _Como estas?_"

"Papi, Mami's making me quit glee! She took _mi guitarra_!" Santana cries. Santana hears Spanish cursing from the other end of the phone.

"I told her not to do that!" he mutters.

"What?"

"Um, your Mami and I often argued about this. I never actually thought that she'd do it. She, um, doesn't approve of your dancing, if you haven't been told. Sadly, I can't do anything to stop her. I'm so sorry, _mi corazon_."

"It's ok, Papi. I'll-I'll call you later," she stutters, and hangs up quickly. She flops back down onto her bed, and she hears the door open quietly.

"Hey, Andrew McCarthy," Santana says without looking up. Sebastian sighs, he heard her conversation with her dad, and he really feels awful. He figures that she reverts to bitch-mode when bad things happen. Things like this. He ignores her nickname, and sits down on the bed next to her. She stiffens at the gesture, and quickly gets up and leaves. Sebastian sighs. Yep. He's been friend-zoned.

The following Monday, Maribel has pulled Santana out of glee club. Santana convinces the rest of the New Directions that this isn't her decision. They all give their sympathy for her mom pulling her out, and Santana convinces Quinn, Britt, and Puck to stay in glee, instead of staying with her.

After school, though, while the New Directions practice, since Santana has to wait for Puck, she heads straight for the auditorium. Her mom never said anything about coming home _directly_ after school. So, she'll get some dancing in. And she has the perfect song for it. She takes center stage, and the lights fade.

Sebastian had informed Jeff about her mom, and all the Warblers feel bad for the Latina. None of them can imagine being pulled out of their group either. So, they all go to McKinley to find Santana. Little do they know, the New Directions have the same idea.

The two groups run into each other in the main hall. The New Directions are thinking about where to find Santana and ignoring Quinn, Brittany and Puck, and the Warblers are being smart and are heading straight for the auditorium. The groups talk for a little bit while Puck scouts, and they form a truce. A general truce; they're tired of being at each other's throats. Puck comes back, and gives them a go ahead, and leads them all up to the balcony, when he tells them to be silent. They all file in and see Santana on the stage. She doesn't appear to have her speaker, so she's hooking up her phone to the sound system. After a second or two of fiddling, she sets her phone down, and loud, booming music comes out of the speakers. Everyone recognizes the song and looks to Blaine, who's smiling. Katy Perry. _Part of Me. _

Santana takes a deep breath. Her Mami might take away her guitar and her speaker, but she can't force her not to dance. She doesn't have to know, anyways. Letting the music guide her, Santana dances around stage, angrier and more intense than last time, trying to vent her frustrations. This song fits her, no one can take this from her. Flipping through the air, and twirling and contorting, every step is confident, each movement is fluid and solid. Gritting her teeth, she pushes herself harder at the peak of the song, finally stopping to breathe once the music dies.

The New Directions watch in awe. Has she always been able to do this? The Warblers look on similarly. No one has ever seen her dance so . . . intensely, except for Puck. He knows that this is her way of coping with life, and the angrier she gets, the more intense, the sadder, the more fluid and graceful, the happier, the more exuberant.

"I've never seen her dance like that," Sebastian whispers. Puck, who's sitting next to him, responds, loud enough so just Sebastian can hear.

"I have. Only once or twice. You can tell what type of dancing she's doing by her face. If she's smiling, it means it's for fun. If she's, like, innocently sad looking, it means she's trying to cheer up, and something sad just happened. Like when her brother died. This, when she's angry, or determined looking, it means she's coping. She's just trying to deal with life, since she always feels so alone most of the time. I mean, she has friends, but it still not the same level of comfort and support that she needs, though she always denies it. Brittany used to sort of help her with that, but not much, since it wasn't meant to happen."

Sebastian doesn't really know what to say to Puck for all of this precious information, but he settles with a thank you for telling him all that stuff. Puck turns back to the stage.

"Hang on, guys. She's not done. She'll do at least two Gaga songs before she finishes," Puck informs them. Kurt claps silently at the mention of basically his favorite artist. Sure enough, electronic music comes blaring out, and Kurt and Mercedes mouth along to _Poker Face_.

Santana needs to keep dancing, if she falls asleep tonight, she won't rest at all, and she needs to get this out of her system, so she goes with her most reliable dance music source: Lady Gaga. Playing _Poker Face_, Santana jerks and bends to the beat, pushing herself harder and harder as the song progresses. Once it's finished, she rockets straight into _Applause_, continuously going harder and harder, trying to get out every last ounce of anger, frustration, and misery. After she finishes, she goes right into one last song, _Telephone_, which is one of her favorite songs, and right now, she doesn't want to think, she doesn't want to feel, she just needs to dance.

Breathing heavily once the song is over, she unplugs her phone, and tucks it in her bag. Knowing that her mom will ask her why she's so sweaty, she towels herself off, and replaces her Cheerios top with a loose red one.

All of the boys' eyes widen when Santana peels her shirt off, revealing a black sports bra and a perfect body. Jeff, Nick, and Puck smirk. Santana leaves the auditorium, and everyone agrees to meet back in the choir room. They meet up, and sit in a large circle.

"Oh, what the hell?" Artie says, breaking the silence. With that, everyone bursts into compliments of her dancing, queries on when she learned to do that, and why didn't she tell anybody. Quinn silences everyone with a piercing two-fingered whistle, and tells them to take turns speaking.

"Has she always been able to do that?" Blaine asks. Puck nods.

"She's the best dancer in glee. Or was, I guess," Mike muses. "I'd love to choreograph some stuff with her."

"She's choreographed one or two things for us," Nick says.

"Those ones are always the most fun," Thad says wistfully.

"Why wouldn't she tell us if she could dance like that?" Mercedes asks.

"Maybe because you guys never really deserved to know her like that," Quinn suggests, slightly bitterly. The New Directions murmur apologies, and then Sebastian speaks up.

"Is there a way we can convince her to rejoin the New Directions? She obviously loves it. I don't care much about winning Regionals right now, but could we convince her mom that she was born to do this?" People start buzzing with ideas, but since Puck, Quinn, Brittany, Sebastian, Nick, and Jeff are the only ones really thinking straight, Puck pulls them aside.

"I have to drop San off at her house. I took a video of each song. I'll show it to her mom. But you guys have to come with me, and talk to her mom. Bring your own cars." All of them nod, and since Nick and Jeff carpooled, they all get into their respective cars and follow Sebastian to Lima Heights while Puck picks up Santana.

When they arrive at Santana's house, she gets out, and then narrows her eyes. Quinn, Brittany, Sebastian, Nick, and Jeff are standing in front of her house.

"What's going on?" Santana asks, suspicious. Jeff steps forward.

"We wanted to talk to your mom."

"Is this because she stopped me from doing glee?" Santana asks accusingly. They all nod, and she sighs. "Do what you can, but I would get your hopes up." They all exchange slightly worried glances at the deflated Santana, but she shows them into the house. They all wait while she gets her mom, and once Maribel enters the room, Santana trudges into the kitchen to start dinner.

"Hello, Jeffrey dear, it's good to see you again. You too, Nicholas. All of you as well, Brittany, Sebastian, Noah, Lucy." Quinn, Puck, Jeff and Nick scowl slightly at the use of their real names, and Brittany just smiles and waves hello to Mrs. Lopez. "Is there something I can help you kids with?"

"Actually, yes," Puck says, stepping forwards.

"Oh?" Maribel says, slightly surprised. They all sit down and Puck starts.

"We heard that you pulled Santana out of glee."

"If that's why you're here, I wouldn't waste your time," Maribel says stiffly.

"We just wanted to show you something." Jeff says. Puck hands Maribel his phone, and plays a video. Maribel scrunches her eyebrows at seeing her daughter in the auditorium. Then, she gasps when Santana starts to dance to _Part of Me_. Puck has a separate video for the Gaga songs, but this one will be enough. He's sure of it. He takes his phone back once the video is done, and Maribel stands.

"Santana!" The younger Latina pokes her head into the room.

"_Si_, Mami?"

"Is this you?" She points to Puck's phone, and Santana cocks her head in confusion.

"What?"

"Were you dancing in your school's auditorium this afternoon instead of studying like you told me?" Santana doesn't meet her mother's eyes, and Maribel nods. She goes over, and pulls Santana into the kitchen. "Santana-"

"Mami, before you get mad at me, I have something to say first. Even though you're pulling me out of glee, I'm not going to stop dancing. You wouldn't understand, but it makes me happy. You probably wouldn't know, I doubt you've ever felt the way I do when I dance. You let me take dance lessons for years, Mami. Why can't I dance now? Because I should be here? I'm not going to stop dancing, and you can't make me."

With that, Santana runs out the back door, grabbing her jacket on her way, and jumps on her bike, the engine roaring to life. She takes off, and swerves through the streets, for half an hour until she arrives at a small house. Parking her bike, she jogs up the steps, and knocks on the door in Morse Code, spelling out _hi_. Her and her Papi's code. He opens the door quickly, and pulls her into a tight hug. Santana let's a few tears fall, but Santiago brushes them away. Helping her into the house, he closes the door, and they sit down on the couch.

"Papi! Mami, she-"

"_Lo se, mija, lo se._" Santiago soothes his daughter, hugging her tightly. "_Está bien_." Santana nods shakily, and Alma Lopez enters the room. She heard Santana come in, and over these past weeks, Santiago has been helping her be more open minded, and now she really wants to talk to her granddaughter.

Santiago sees that his mom wants alone time with Santana, he knows that Santana's always been her favorite, so he stands, and exits. Alma goes over, and sits down next to Santana.

"Santana, _me equivocaba._ Santiago helped me see that . . . that you deserve to love whomever you choose, and as your grandmother, the best thing I can do is support you. I know the divorce hit you hard, and I want . . . I want to be your Abuela again." Santana can't believe what she's hearing.

"Abuela-" she cuts herself off by leaning forwards, and hugging her tightly. ALma returns it, and rests her head on her granddaughter's shoulder. "I missed you."

"So did I. _Te amo, querida_." Santana lets a few tears fall as she clings to her grandmother. At least this can be off of her chest. When they finally let go, Santana and Alma relax next to each other on the couch. "I'm still trying to work on this, but would you mind . . . telling me what I missed? How are things with you and Brittany?" Santana sighs, but snuggles into her Abuela, and tells her everything.

By the time she finishes, it's late, past dinner, and her Papi hands them both plates of beans and rice.

"It's not as fancy as you're probably used to cooking, but I've been getting better." Santana smiles at him.

"It's ok, Papi. This is probably the best thing I've ever tasted, because I didn't have to cook it." They all laugh, and Santana wishes that she could move here. Now that she and her Abuela are close again, everything would be so easy. But, she has to stay with her Mami and the twins. She does love Lima Heights though. That'll always be her home.

After they finish, Alma does dishes, and Santana updates her Papi on general things. She then sighs, remembering that she has to get home, since it's really late and it's a school night. "I should probably head home," Santana tells them sadly. Alma and Santiago exchange glances.

"Why don't you stay for the night? We have a guest room," Santiago offers. Santana brightens, and whips out her phone.

"I'll text Mami." She quickly types in a message saying that she's staying for the night, and closes her phone before Maribel can respond.

They show her to the guest room, and Santiago lends her one of her favorite shirts of his to sleep in. Santana slides under the covers, and both her Papi and Abuela come in, and kiss her goodnight. And for the first time in a while, Santana really sleeps well.

In the morning, Santana finds Santiago awake and cooking eggs. She has her uniform on, and kisses him goodbye before hopping on her bike and heading to school, stopping by her empty house to grab her stuff first. At school, she's accosted by Quinn, Brittany and Puck, and she tells them the good news that her Abuela forgave her. They all hug her congratulations, and they tell her what happened after she left.

Apparently, Maribel actually was impressed by her dancing, and told them to tell Santana that she can rejoin glee! Feeling happier than she's been in a while, Santana goes to class with Quinn and Brittany, linking arms hoping that the day will stay this good.

After school, Santana takes a deep breath, and pushes open the door to the choir room. After seeing her, everyone cheers at her being back. A change from last time she left glee. She smiles, and takes her seat with Quinn and Puck and Brittany on the steps.

Mr. Schue comes in, and smiles at Santana. "Welcome back, Santana!" Everyone cheers, and Mr. Schue continues. "Now it's time for Regionals! I want up to split into two groups. One group will focus on song selection and solos, and the other will focus on electing a lead choreographer, and starting on the dancing. Ok, Rachel, Finn, Quinn, Mercedes, Kurt, Rory, Artie, and Tina work on songs, Mike, Brittany, Puck, Joe, Blaine, Sugar, Sam, and Santana, work on choreography. Go!"

Everyone splits into their groups, and Santana hangs on the outside of her assigned circle, figuring that they won't bother with her opinion, per usual. But, everyone waves for her to join them. Confused, she slides her chair in between Mike and Brittany, and Mike speaks, like Santana assumed he would.

"So, should we vote on a lead choreographer?" Mike asks.

"Why bother? We know that it'll be you, Mike. You're the best dancer in glee," Santana says. Mike smiles knowingly.

"Don't lie, Santana. We all know that's not true." Santana is confused at what he's talking about. Did he somehow find out?

"We all saw you dancing in the auditorium yesterday, San," Puck tells her. "I videotaped it, and showed it to your mom." Santana can't believe her ears.

"Really?" Puck nods slowly, worried that she'll be mad. Instead, she breaks into a smile, and hugs him. "Thank you!"

"So, do you want to be our lead choreographer?" Mike asks. Santana smiles. She hasn't given Mike enough credit.

"I would be honored. In fact, I might already have a few ideas, but they depend on which songs we do." Mike and the group nods enthusiastically, and Santana shares her plan. Everyone seems confused except for Mike and Brittany, so she and the two demonstrate some moves, and after that, everyone seems just as excited.

Rachel comes over with their song ideas, and Santana agrees to meet up with her. They go off to the side, and everyone holds their breath, because they know that the two don't really like each other. After a little bit, both girls smile, and Rachel gives Santana a quick hug that she doesn't return, but she smiles nonetheless. Everyone sighs, and they turn to the group. They both present the song selection, and everyone cheers.

"Now comes the hard part," Santana says, smirking. "The dancing." Everyone groans playfully, and they all join up and Santana lays out a basic plan.

Brittany knows that this is her time to act, so through the rest of their time, she spreads a secret message around to everyone except Mr. Schue and Santana, telling them all to stay behind after glee is over. Once Santana and Mr. Schue leave, everyone turns to Brittany.

"What's up, Britt?" Quinn asks. Brittany smiles at her friends. Phase Three time.

"You know how we made peace with the penguins?"

"Warblers," Quinn clarifies. Everyone nods.

"Well, you all also know that Sanny and I broke up, we're just BFF's. And she's a bit lonely without a boyfriend."

"You mean girlfriend?" Kurt asks.

"Well, she's a turtle, so not necessarily."

"Turtles are bi," Quinn explains.

"So, I kinda have a ship in mind. And it's a penguin. He's an ex-dolphin, but he's definitely a turtle. And he and Sanny would be perfect together." Everyone looks confused, so Puck stands up next to Brittany.

"Basically, she ships Santana with a Warbler. He used to be gay, but he's definitely bi, and would be perfect for San." Everyone _ohhhs_, and Brittany creases her eyebrows.

"I literally just said that. Anyways, it would really be great if you guys could help me with step three of my plan." Everyone nods.

"Yeah, totally! Santana deserves to be happy after all the shit we put her through," Mercedes says. Everyone agrees, but Sam has one question.

"Who is it? Did you say?" Brittany shakes her head.

"It's Meerkat." Everyone looks confused. "Chipmunk?" she tries. No one gets it except for Kurt.

"Ohhh. Ohhh! I totally agree with you, Britt! You're a genius! That would be the perfect couple! Except for all that evil in one place . . ." Kurt trails off, and Brittany sighs since no one else get it. At least Kurt sometimes understands her genius.

"Sebastian." It clicks for everyone, and they all burst out into applause and cheers. Brittany smiles, they seem to agree with her. Then, with some translations from Quinn, Brittany explains her plan.

Santana arrives at her house, and is immediately accosted by Maribel, who apologizes for pulling her out of glee, and tells her that her stuff is all back in her room.

Sebastian comes home, and Santana tells him that her and her Abuela made up, and she's back in glee, and was elected lead choreographer. He congratulates her, and she hugs him tightly before realizing what's happening, and pulls away blushing. For dinner, Santana doesn't have a plan, so Sebastian takes the lead, and makes a pasta dish. The mood in the kitchen is very nervous and awkward, though.

After dinner, Santana tucks the twins in, and Sebastian helps since they insisted, much to his delight. After a little while, the two head to bed themselves, leaving the adults to stay up and talk on the couch.

In Santana's room, they lay out the inflatable mattress, and quickly change into their pjs. Lying on her bed, Santana can't seem to fall asleep yet. Her third eye is telling her that something else is supposed to happen, but it wont tell her what it is.

Sebastian notices that Santana can't fall asleep, and turns to face her.

"Hey. You ok?" Santana nods.

"Yeah. Best I've been in a while, actually."

"Having trouble falling asleep?"

"Yep. My third eye is telling me not to, but I'm afraid something will screw up my so far pretty perfect day."

"Fate doesn't like you much?"

"Have you looked at my life?" Santana says bitterly.

"It's getting better," Sebastian assures her. "Hey, why were you awkward about hugging me earlier? You've never been awkward around me, why start now?" Santana flushes, and is glad that the lights are off and he can't see her clearly.

"No reason," Santana says, her words clipped. Sebastian frowns.

"Santana . . ."

"Look. There's a reason that things are awkward between us now."

"Which is?" Sebastian asks, confused and annoyed to why Santana's being so . . . defensive.

"To put it simply, one of us has feelings the other doesn't reciprocate. Happy? Goodnight." She then turns away, and hopes that he won't say anything. She finally admitted it to herself. She likes Sebastian. Like, _like_ likes him. This'll be fun.

Sebastian blanches. How did she figure out that he likes her? Did Brittany tell her something? She doesn't feel the same way? He's so confused on how this is all going down. Sebastian gets up, and goes over to Santana.

"Santana. How did you- what do you mean?" Santana shakes her head, and speed walks over towards the door. "San!" She stops.

"Fine. I'll spell it out for you. I like you. You think of me as a friend. Bye." She makes a dash for the door, but Sebastian grabs her arm, stopping her from leaving.

"San. I thought you meant me." She stops pulling.

"What?"

"I thought you meant that you knew that . . . that I liked you, and didn't feel the same way. I thought that was your way of letting me down gently." Sebastian steps closer to her, and she doesn't move. "I like you a lot, San." Santana smiles softly.

"I like you too, Bas." He clasps both of her hands, and their lips meet gently. Santana rests her hands on his chest, and he places his on her shoulders. They pull away, and smile at each other.

"What now?" Sebastian asks.

"First, we go to sleep," Santana says with a smirk. He rolls his eyes. "I think . . . I think we should try. But I don't think our glee clubs would approve." His face falls and they go over and sit on Santana's bed.

"You're right," he tells her.

"I know I am."

"They probably won't like us being together."

"Like they can stop us," Santana scoffs.

"They can't. But, I don't want them pressuring us. In any way."

"Of course." Santana thinks for a second. "There's a way . . . but it's not a good one." Sebastian nods in understanding.

"Is it what I think it is?" Santana sighs, and Sebastian holds her hand, rubbing circles with his thumb.

"Yeah. We would have to pretend otherwise, basically indifference around each other to hide it. I don't like it at all."

"I don't either. But it's the only way." Santana leans her head on Sebastian's shoulder, and yawns. He smiles softly. "I think it's time for bed. But we are going to do this?"

"What, be together? Or hide from glee clubbers?"

"Both."

"Yeah. We are." Sebastian lifts her head by her chin, and kisses her again softly. Then, they both get into their respective beds, after Sebastian slides his mattress next to her bed, so they can just reach each other. "Night, Bas."

"Night, Tana."

The next day, during glee, both Sebastian and Santana discover that the New Directions and the Warblers are scheduled for a meet up on Friday to make sure that there aren't any hard feelings, and to go into Regionals as friendly competitors. They both are a bit worried on how that will work, but go along with it, as excited as the rest of them.

On Friday, the Warblers arrive in the parking lot, and Sebastian leads them to the auditorium where a few New Directioners are setting up sound and light equipment. Namely, Artie, Tina, Mike, Rory, Puck, and Santana. They all welcome the boys onstage, and the rest of the New Directions file in, all of them exchanging secretive looks. Hunter notices this, he wasn't there when they were planning everything, he had left after Santana finished dancing, and is wondering if something's going on.

They start with a few mixed numbers, a few duets, and some group numbers. Rachel does a cover of _My Heart is Open_ by Maroon 5 and Gwen Stefani, basically switching duet partners within the Warblers every verse. Mercedes and David lead _Drag Me Down_, by One Direction, the Warblers perform _Shake Señora_ by Pitbull, and inspired by their choice, Quinn puts on Jennifer Lopez's _Ven a Bailar_, since she knows Santana likes it, and everyone just dances.

Then, the Warblers announce that they have a few prepared numbers. The New Directions let them go ahead, and Sebastian starts them off with a fantastic rendition of _Want You Back_, by the Jackson 5. Everyone smiles at the memory of Michael Week, when this all started. Santana smiles, and watches and Sebastian sings, she knows that it's for her, as alluded to by the wink he gave her.

After, Hunter leads them in Flo Rida's _Whistle_, also sung to Santana. This slightly angers Sebastian, but he knows that she's not interested in Hunter at all. He does with he could tell him to back off of his girlfriend, though. Everyone can see that both boys were singing to Santana, and the Latina smirks.

"Looks like we have a little competition here, don't we?" Quinn says, referencing the two boys. This is part of their plan. They know that both boys like her, but also know that Santana only thinks of Hunter as a friend. Everyone cheers, and the blonde turns to Santana. "Looks like we need a little tie-breaker." She smirks and stands.

"Smythe, Clarington, Sterling, Harwood. You guys are on dancing back up. Britt? Quinn?" Both girls nod, agreeing to do backup vocals, and Santana takes center stage, the aforementioned boys in a fan behind her. "Chang!" Mike looks at her. "Take notes." She winks, and the music starts.

Santana bursts into a version of _Circus,_ by Britney Spears, and the boys behind her dance along with her. She plays along with the lyrics, and for the chorus, she dances intensely on the first and third lines, the boys trying to keep up on the second and fourth. When it comes time for the musical interlude, Thad and Jeff shove Sebastian forwards, and he's immediately snatched up in an intense dance sequence with Santana. Her completely in control, but him following eagerly, sensing her thoughts of what she wants him to do. She spins around, he grabs her waist, she bends over his arm, he runs his hands down her sides, she grinds her hips. When they finish the dancing break, she winks at him, and jumps back into the song.

She finishes, slightly out of breath, and everyone applauds. She dips an exaggerated bow, and hugs all of her Warbler back up dancers, thanking them for playing along. Puck stands up and smiles.

"Hey San! Why don't you do another number?" Everyone cheers, honestly wanting to see more dancing, but she smirks and shakes her head.

"Nah, it can be someone else's turn. Plus, I might want a tiny break." Puck rolls his eyes. _Yeah, right. Tiny break my ass._ Instead of saying this, he smirks, and cues a song, one he knows Santana can't resist. Shakira time. Santana never can say no to the Colombian singer.

_Loca_, by Shakira, comes on, and Santana's hips immediately start to twitch and shake. She glares at Puck. He knows her too well. Everyone claps, and Santana rolls her eyes, going along with it. Doing a more Latin-inspired dance, along with a lot of Shakira-esque hip movements which draw a lot of attention from all the boys, Santana dances and sings along, Puck joining in for the Dizzee Rascal part. Afterwards, Santana sighs contentedly, and sits down, signalling that she's taking a break.

Sebastian watches proudly as she _kills_ the Shakira song. He, along with every other male in the room, got mesmerized by the strong, sexy movement of her hips, and he can't help but be proud of her, and happy that she's his.

Brittany leads a version of Kesha's _Die Young_, and a bunch of people get up to dance along. After, everyone rests for a bit, until Kurt shoots up, with a practically maniacal grin on his face. Whispering to Mercedes, he shares his idea, and his reasoning behind it.

"Let's just say, San's costume was basically impossible for anyone of the male gender to resist." Mercedes grins, and spreads the word to Rachel, Quinn, Tina, and Brittany, who tells San the idea, leaving behind the reason. They all agree, and tell the rest of the group that they have a surprise blast from the past. As they leave to change, the boys all speculate about what it could be.

A few minutes later, all the boys cheer when Kurt comes out of the wings. Sebastian stares as Kurt takes center stage, dressed in a blue Lady Gaga outfit, complete with heels. He shakes his head. Gaga? Now he can't wait to see what Santana's wearing.

An extended intro to _Bad Romance_ comes on, and the girls come on stage one at a time, all of them in a version of an actual Gaga costume. Rachel has on a short, architectural black and white dress, Mercedes has a sparkly gold shaped dress and the bow made of purple hair, Tina is sporting a dress made of champagne bubbles and a platinum wig, Brittany has on gray pants, a white top and a sparkly silver lobster mask, and Quinn has on a spacey pink dress with a shaped bottom and silver rings encircling it paired with extended pink eyelashes and pink highlights to match. Sebastian's, and probably most of the other Warblers', jaws drop when Santana emerges.

Hot damn, she's so sexy. In a skintight bodysuit made almost entirely out of _very_ see-through black lace, save her breasts and her pelvis, covered by shiny black material, she accessorizes with black glovelets, mid-height black heeled boots, and a large black bow hat on her head. The hat should have been and would have been awkward and ridiculous on anyone else, but somehow Santana made it seem fashionable, and utterly sexy. The boys can only gape as they all start singing _Bad Romance_, Kurt starting, then switching to Tina, Mercedes, then Quinn.

Sebastian is pleased that Santana has a fair bit of solo parts. During the bridge, when it comes about time for the small bit in French, Sebastian wonders if they put to use Santana's language skills. He smirks when she takes lead, slowly standing, belting the foreign language as easily as it were English. When she extends her arm with a finger gun, she slyly points to him, and he smirks. They wrap it up, all of them finishing in front, and everyone stands and applauds. Santana sneaks off backstage, and Sebastian follows her.

"Hey," she says in a breath.

"Hi. That was amazing."

"Thanks. Your number was great too."

"I wish Hunter would leave you alone," Sebastian says through gritted teeth. Santana reaches up, and strokes his arm, effectively calming him down.

"It's ok. Just know that I'm yours, and he could never change that." Sebastian smiles. "Now, I should probably change out of this costume. I love it, but it's a bit drafty."

"Nah. You should keep it on," Sebastian says, grinning at her. She playfully slaps his arm, and leaves to change. Somehow, Sebastian manages to slip back into the crowd unnoticed, since the rest of the Gaga's are changing as well.

Once everyone regroups, their time is over, so everyone says goodbye to the Warblers, and Santana slips a note into Sebastian's pocket when she hugs him goodbye, along with Jeff, Nick, Hunter, Thad, Trent, and David. As they leave, Sebastian unfurls the slip of paper, and smiles.

_I think we pulled it off. See you later! ;)_

Tucking it into his pocket, he gets in his car, eager to get back to his house.

Brittany is internally cursing. She got the ND's on board, along with the Warblers, but they didn't get to sing together, and kept ignoring their unbearable sexual tension during their dance sequence. She'll have to resort to plan B. She relays her frustrations to Quinn and Puck as everyone leaves, and they sympathize, telling her that they will do anything they can to help.

**A/N: I have a few one shots too. Please comment if there are any other Glee ships you really want to see, or other stories in general. I'm open to ideas. Thanks, and please review!**


	12. Regionals

Santana waits for Puck in the parking lot, sitting on the bench texting Sebastian. When Puck arrives, she clicks off her phone and gets in the car, heading back to Lima Heights. When she arrives home, her Mami is there, telling her that the Smythes are back in their house; their heating is set up, and it's less cold out.

In her room, Santana packs up the inflatable mattress, the room feeling bigger, but not necessarily in a good way. After putting it away, she takes out her brother's journal, and logs down everything that happened recently. Afterwards, she flops on her bed, and doesn't move until she hears a sharp rapping sound from her window. Going over, she sees Sebastian tossing pebbles at her window. She smirks and grabs her phone.

[Jenny Lopez]

_R we in a Shakespeare tragedy, now, Smythe?_

Sebastian hears his phone buzz, and smiles at her message.

[Andrew McCarthy]

"_Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I never saw true beauty till this night!"_

Santana rolls her eyes at the Romeo and Juliet quote, and responds in the best way she knows how. Sarcastically.

[Jenny Lopez]

_Ur a real cheese head, u know that?_

[Andrew McCarthy]

_What can I say? I have a gift 4 words. And I'm slightly offended that u haven't changed my nickname to Sexy :(_

[Jenny Lopez]

_I'm pretty sure I'm the sexy one, Smythe. Or did u forget my Gaga outfit? And my Shakira number? And my Anita dress? (Plus, Andrew McCarthy is my fave of ur NN's!)_

[Andrew McCarthy]

_Ah, the red dress. It's been a while, I almost did forget. That was gorgeous on u, tho._

[Jenny Lopez]

_I know. Want 2 go out 2nite?_

[Andrew McCarthy]

_Do u even need 2 ask?_

[Jenny Lopez]

_Meet me outside in 10 mins_

Santana smiles and rushes downstairs after checking the time. She quickly whips something up, and sticks it in the fridge for her siblings and Mami to eat later. Leaving a note for them, noting the food, she changes into a red cropped t shirt, a skirt and cropped leggings, and her heeled high-tops. Covering herself with a black jacket, she steps outside and sees Sebastian waiting for her. Smiling and going over to him, she sneaks up behind him. He's on his phone, texting . . . her.

Smirking, she taps him on his left shoulder, and darts to his right as he whips in that direction. She snatches his phone, and he turns to look at her. Smiling once he realizes that it's her, she tosses it back to him, and he takes her hand in his, partly to prevent her from doing anything else, but also just to hold her hand.

She leads him to a karaoke bar and dance club, and after they check their jackets, they grab a table, quickly ordering dinner. They look out at the dancers, and smile, thinking of which songs to sing They finish dinner quickly, talking about anything and everything, and go out on the dance floor as Usher's _Yeah_ comes on. They two quickly take over the dance floor, all the couples envious, the guys staring at Santana's sexy hips and exposed midriff and the girls watching Sebastian dance with her. They smirk at each other, and as the song ends, Santana darts up to the stage as Sebastian turns down a bunch of girls and sits.

Santana takes center stage, and sings _Genie in a Bottle_, by Christina Aguilera, and Sebastian grins as she shakes her hips and moves her body seductively to the music, cuing wolf whistles and catcalls from all the guys and lesbians. He doesn't mind; he knows that it's for him, and that sexy body is his. When she finishes, everyone clears a path for her to get to him, and Sebastian pulls her to him.

"Good thing I know how to rub you right," he says grinning, referencing the lyrics of her song.

"Yeah, really good thing. Let's dance, Smythe." Heading back onto the dance floor, they dance a few more songs before grabbing drinks and sitting back down.

Sipping her margarita slowly, Santana looks out at all the dancers and smiles when she feels Sebastian's free hand slide into hers.

After a little while, alternating between dancing, drinking, and singing, the two head home. Both are smart drinkers, and neither of them got drunk, at most a tiny bit tipsy. In front of both of their houses, they have to leave each other, and exchange a quick kiss as they separate. Knowing them though, it won't be for long.

After the rest of the week effectively hiding their relationship from the glee club, Santana and Sebastian find themselves in Santana's room, passionately making out on the Latina's bed.

He rolls on top of her, still attached at the mouth, and he hears Santana's breath hitch. He pulls away, and extends his arms so he's hovering over her.

"Sorry, am I going too fast?" he asks, nervous. He just doesn't want to mess it up for Santana. Santana looks up at him, her expression unreadable, save the sly sparkle in her eyes.

"Bas," Santana started. "If you don't get your horse face down here and kiss me in the next two seconds, I will go all Lima Heights on you." Sebastian gives her a wolfish grin, and acquiesces to her demands, letting himself carefully fall on top of her, and joining their lips together again. Santana sighs into the kiss, and seizing the opportunity, he quickly snakes his tongue into her mouth, twining together with hers, moving as one.

Her hands wrap around his neck and her fingers tangle in his hair, like she's trying to prevent him from pulling away again. Like hell he's doing that. His hands, in turn, are wandering down her body, holding her close to him. She flips them over, so she's lying on top of him, and he pulls her deep into his chest.

Then, Maribel knocks on the door. "_Mija!_ You have a visitor!" At the message, the two teens scramble to untangle themselves from each other, and to resume more . . . tame and normal activities. Santana lies on her stomach on her bed, scrolling through her music selection, and Sebastian takes a seat at her desk, reading a book from her pile. Just in time, too, because just as they get situated, Puck walks through the door.

He eyes the two suspiciously, they seem a bit rushed, and he knows that Santana just started to use her phone as an excuse; he knows that she has all of her music memorized.

"Hi, Puck," Santana says, putting her phone down, sitting on her bed cross-legged.

"Hey, Tana. Sebastian," Puck says, nodding at the boy as he sits down next to Santana. "What were you two doing?"

Sebastian's cheeks color slightly, and Santana swiftly replies, "Just hanging out." Sebastian nods.

"Yeah, I think San was playing games or something, and I was just reading. We were planning to just chill today." Puck nods, still a bit disbelieving, but goes along with it. Plus, he knows Santana better than that.

"Cool. I was wondering if you wanted to do something. Sebastian can join, if you want," Puck offers. Santana nods, and stands up, Sebastian following.

"Yeah, sounds great. What did you have in mind?" Santana asks as the three walk downstairs. Puck grins at her.

"Well, it's been a while since you and I hit us Scandals . . ." Santana smirks.

"Oh, it's on. Come on." She grabs Sebastian by the arm, and Puck follows behind, all of them going outside, and piling into Santana's mom's car. Santana drives while Puck snags passenger seat.

They pull up at Scandals, and check their jackets as they enter the club. Santana sidles up next to Sebastian, and whispers to him, "_Follow our lead. We have a routine that we do. Just go with it._" He nods, and Santana catches up with Puck at the bar, who already has three shots for them. "You already put in the request?" she asks. Puck nods, and Santana smirks, taking the shot and downing it. Sebastian copies her, and Santana cocks her head to the music. Then, she smiles. "This is a little something that we like to do. I recommend watching our awesomeness, but you can dance too, if you want," Santana says. Then, Puck offers his hand out to Santana and she takes it, the pair heading to the center of the dance floor.

They circle each other until the beat speeds up, the sound of _Dance in the Dark_, by Lady Gaga, making everybody cheer, and turn their attention to the two in the center of the room. Everyone knows to make room for them, this is their song, and they own this floor. Puck smirks, and slowly takes off her t shirt, leaving her torso in only a sexy black and red sports bra, and everyone cheers. Puck's hands travel from her shoulders down her body to her hips, and they launch into an impressive, _sexy_, sultry dance routine. Sebastian watches his girlfriend in awe, but wishes that he was the one touching her and holding her and dancing with her like that. But he knows that he can't be mad; she's doing what she loves, with her best friend, and he can tell by the mischievous but thrilled smile gracing Santana's features. They wrap up, Santana in a dip, and everyone applauds, clearing a path for them to rejoin Sebastian at the bar. He claps, and Puck smirks.

"Nice, guys. You two regulars here?" They nod.

"You want a turn? I'm sure Tana could lead you in something," Puck says. He's definitely in cahoots with Brittany, and he'll be reporting back to her, this is a perfect opportunity. Santana shakes her hips and shoulders teasingly, and Sebastian smirks at his girlfriend.

"Why not. But I'll bet you five bucks that we can do even better than you two." Puck raises an eyebrow, and Santana looks on proudly. The boys shake on it, and Sebastian escorts Santana to the center of the floor as the next song, _Little Bad Girl_ by Taio Cruz and Ludacris comes on. Santana smirks, and they start dancing.

In a blur of motion, the two dance around the center of the floor, sexily, seductively, sultrily, the sexual tension rising with each step, with each touch, each glance. Puck looks on happily. Oh yeah, there's _way_ too much sexual tension and chemistry here to ignore it. They return to the bar, slightly out of breath, and Puck claps, fishing five dollars out of his wallet, handing the money to Sebastian, who slides the bills into his pocket.

After a few more songs, they leave, heading back to Lima Heights after swinging by the Lima Bean for a pick-me-up. Puck drops the two off, and Santana waves to him as he drives off. Sebastian follows her inside her house and up to her room, where both of them lie down on the bed. But, not before Santana takes off her jacket and t shirt, leaving her back in her sports bra.

Sebastian smirks; he likes seeing Santana like this. He frankly prefers it when she has as little extra stuff on as possible, no make up, just a bra and a skirt. She's even more perfect without all those add-ons anyways.

She turns on her side to look at him, and he does the same. He smiles softly, and reaches over and takes her hands in his. Santana grins, but lets go to stand up and open a window. Sebastian fake pouts, and follows her up.

"Stalker," Santana says, feeling him watching her. He shakes his head.

"No. You're sexy. Am I supposed to look away?" he challenges. She rolls her eyes, but when she turns around, she runs straight into him. "Caught you."

"Really?" She twists in place, but he holds fast, and she doesn't really mind, anyways.

"Really." He pulls her gently back over to Santana's bed, and they fall on it together. Sebastian releases one hand to gently trail from her shoulder across her breast, down her side, and rests on her hip, pulling her close. He can't get enough of her. Plus, Puck got to do this, and he didn't, so he wants to make up for it.

Santana smirks. "Feeling a bit jealous, Twink?"

Sebastian doesn't bother denying it, he just attaches his mouth to her neck; he still remembers exactly what she likes. She sighs in pleasure, and uses her hand to remove the stray hairs shielding the remainder of her neck from Sebastian's touch. He grins, and moves behind her ear, where he remembers finding her weak spot. Once he's sure, he bites down, making Santana moan, marking her as his. She's his now, and he belongs solely to her. And that's just the way the two dominators like it.

He rolls on top of her, and moves his mouth back over to hers, eagerly awaiting his arrival. Santana's hands wind around his neck and weave through is hair, Sebastian's hands flip them back over so she's on top, then wander down her back, caressing her breasts and occasionally pinching areas of skin, which only makes Santana squirm and kiss him harder.

Though she really doesn't want to move, she reluctantly pulls away and stands. Sebastian sighs, but he understands.

"Sorry, Bas. You know that I don't want to stop, but Mami will be checking in on me soon, telling me to start dinner." Sebastian smiles, and places a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Its ok, Tana. We can always pick up where we left off tomorrow." Santana smiles, but shakes her head.

"Can't. I have to work tomorrow. It's only a half day, but I might stay longer, since it just reopened."

"Where?" Sebastian asks, both of them remembering that Sebastian never got told where Santana works. Santana smiles, and he takes her hand.

"Burt Hummel's tire shop. You know the place. Maybe I can come over later." He nods, and kisses her once again before they head downstairs, running into Maribel on the way down. As predicted, she asks (read: tells) Santana to start dinner, and both of them say goodbye to Sebastian. The twins are at a sleepover, so she's just cooking for the two of them.

She makes a pasta dish for the two, and they eat in silence; Maribel texting her friends and reading the news, and Santana is alternating texting Puck, Sebastian, Quinn, and Brittany.

They finish quickly and Maribel disappears into the house while Santana does dishes before dashing back up to her room. After finishing whatever homework she didn't do, she gets out her computer, and works on a project she, Rachel, Kurt, Artie, Quinn, and Mercedes were assigned for Regionals.

They have to mash up a R&B song with a rap song, and when she logs on, Santana sees that all of the others are on as well. After a long time collaborating on the song, they think that one more day will probably be enough to finish, so they all log off.

Her phone buzzes with a text from Sebastian, inviting her over, and she tells her Mami that she's going over to Sebastian's even though she knows her Mami doesn't really care. She probably won't even notice if Santana stays the night. Which is exactly what Sebastian is counting on.

Sebastian lets her in, and they both silently go up to Sebastian's room, a very familiar room to the two; their most common location for sex back when they were enemies with benefits. Neither of them really has a plan for what they're doing, so Sebastian just takes his shirt off, and lies on the bed, Santana ditching her top as well and lying on her back, resting her head on his toned chest.

They both lie there, Santana holding one of his hands and staring at the ceiling, Sebastian looking down at her, stroking her hair softly with his free hand.

"Hey, Tana?"

"Yeah, Bas?"

"Do you think we'll ever tell our friends about us?" Santana smiles softly, and looks up at him.

"Oh, I'm sure we will eventually. We obviously won't be forced too, since we're both _incredible_ actors, but we probably will. Maybe after Regionals, so they don't accuse me of being a spy for you guys or something."

Sebastian nods, and releases Santana's hand to move her up next to him. She moves her head into the crook of his neck, and he wraps one arm around her shoulders. Their free hands clasp together; Sebastian loves how perfectly they fit together. Same with their bodies. It's like he was made to hold the perfect Latina.

They snuggle together, then Santana lets out a yawn. Both of them getting up for only a second to change, Sebastian into sweatpants and Santana into solely one of Sebastian's shirts miles too big for her, they resume their position, and quickly, Santana falls asleep in Sebastian's arms. He smiles down at the beautiful sleeping girl, and kisses the crown of her head gently. After watching her sleep for another minute, he too falls asleep, holding Santana close to him.

Early the next morning, Sebastian wakes up to find himself alone in his bed. He's confused, since he's _sure_ that he fell asleep with a Latina in his arms. He sits up, and sees her slowly moving around the room, gathering her stuff, and cleaning up after him.

"San . . . you better not be cleaning," he warns. "You do enough work at home. Don't make more for yourself." She straightens, and smirks at him.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty. And I didn't plan on it, but I couldn't find my clothes in this pigsty, so I decided to tidy it a bit." She gestures to the piles of stuff on his floor, and he grins sheepishly.

"Why you up so early?" Sebastian asks, still a bit groggy. She rolls her eyes.

"I told you. I have to work. But I'll see you when I get back. See you later," she says, and before Sebastian can object, she's sliding gracefully out the window. He grins to himself, and reluctantly gets out of bed to get dressed.

Santana climbs up to her room and throws on her work clothes before heading out and driving off to the tire shop. She goes straight to work when she gets there, and doesn't stop until her short lunch break. She checks her phone, and notices a string of texts from Sebastian, mostly meant to make her laugh. She responds with a few witty texts of her own, and replies to Puck, who also texted her, about planning for Regionals. She just then receives a text from Quinn and Brittany, asking if they can come over, to hang out with Santana and the twins. Santana immediately replies yes, the twins love to hang out with the Trinity, and that means more time with her friends. Then, it's back to work for Santana until 4:00, when she drives back to Lima Heights. When she arrives, Sebastian is waiting for her.

"Hey there. You waiting long?" she asks, getting out of the car. Sebastian grins, shaking his head.

"No. I remember you got back that time around 4:10, so I assume you get off at 4:00." Santana nods in conformation to his deduction, and he follows her inside her house.

"Anything new?" Santana asks. Sebastian hangs his head, and nods. "What's up, Bas?" He sighs, and they sit down on the couch, his head resting on her shoulder.

"Nothing, really. My dad just has another case out of town. He's leaving again. But at least it's only for two weeks." Santana smiles.

"Daddy's boy," she teases softly. The corners of his mouth twitch into a smile.

"You have no idea. But you're one to talk, anyways."

"Guilty as charged. But it'll be fine, Seb. I know that you miss him, but he'll be back before you know it. And, you can always hang out with me to distract yourself." Sebastian grins, and nods, twining his hand with hers.

"Very tempting. I'll have to take you up on that." Santana smirks.

"Of course. I mean, who are you to refuse such an offer?" she challenges. He shrugs, and they sit in peaceful silence for a minute until they hear the twins coming up to the door. They quickly stand up, and Santana opens the door, letting the twins and her Mami, and escorting Sebastian out. She winks at him as she closes the door, and he smirks, heading back to his house.

The next day, Santana visits Dalton, and true to their agreement, Hunter provided the perfect dramatic entrance for Satan herself. Sebastian's eyes never left them, and he knew that they had to pretend that they weren't dating, he wanted more than anything to show everyone that she's his, and also to tell Hunter to fuck off and leave his woman alone. But, he grits his teeth and bears it while they go down the hall.

As her visit progresses, Sebastian gets more and more annoyed. Not at Santana, she's only doing what they both need to do. It's Hunter, he literally won't put more than 5 feet in between him and Santana.

When she leaves, Sebastian is glad to have her gone, for the sole reason of putting distance between her and Hunter. It's not that he wants her gone, he just doesn't want Hunter near her. Sebastian leaves Dalton with the other boys, and goes quickly back to Lima Heights. He sees that Santana's mom isn't home, so he leaves the house and knocks on Santana's door.

When she answers, she raises a teasing eyebrow that makes Sebastian just want to take her right there. But, he restrains himself as he follows her inside, and up to her room. When they get there, she smirks at him, she knows what's up. So, it's no surprise when Sebastian pushes her forcefully on the bed.

His mouth attaches immediately to her neck, biting down hard right on her weak spot, and Santana moans in pleasure. Rolling around on the bed, Sebastian kisses her harder than he ever has; and Santana isn't objecting. She likes this just as much as he does. He moves his mouth back to her neck, and leaves a dark hickey, marking her as his. She returns the favor, and when they finish fucking on her bed, they lie down on her bed, Santana wrapped in Sebastian's arms.

"Feeling possessive today, Bas?" Santana asks, smiling as he holds her tighter.

"Maybe. I just don't like how obsessed Hunter is with you," Sebastian tells her.

"Do I detect jealousy?" Santana teases. Sebastian simply nods. "I know, Bassy. I wish it didn't have to be this way, and trust me, I don't like it either how close he gets to me. But remember, I'm yours. I trust you, and I hope you trust me too."

"Of course I trust you, baby girl. It's Hunter that I don't trust."

"You know that I can defend myself, right?"

"Yes. Can you just promise not to lead him on, though?" Santana smiles, and tucks further into her beautiful boyfriend's chest.

"Yes, I can do that. That'll be easy when I already have you." Sebastian grins, and slides his hand behind Santana's neck, pulling into another deep kiss.

Santana and Sebastian manage to keep their relationship a secret for another two weeks and then it's time for Regionals. Both of them promise to each other that their relationship won't be affected by the outcome of the competition, a nice make-out session following that decision.

One afternoon, the Warblers have a song prepared for Santana, just for fun, so they invite her over. Maybe she'll even give them a choreographed song. She struts through the halls, and grins as the boys scatter. She heads into Warblers hall, and sits on the sofa, waiting for the boys to finish taking attendance. So far, only Sebastian and Hunter are missing, away on official Warblers business.

"So, Ms. Lopez, do you have something for us?" Nick asks, his excitement betraying his attempt at formality. Santana grins.

"You bet I do. I hope y'all are familiar with this song." She passes out music pieces, and everyone cheers, making Santana smirk. "Good. Duval, you're on leads, Harwood, you have main backup. Sterling, Thompson, you two are going to help me train these losers in likely one of the best dance routines I've done, if I do say so myself."

Everyone nods, and they get to work, Nick helping the boys with parts, while Santana first teaches David and Jeff the routine, then the three of them help the rest of them. By the time Sebastian and Hunter arrive, they've basically got it down. When they arrive, they both immediately notice Santana, and go over to her. Nick joins them, as does Thad, who was filling in as Captain while Sebastian was gone.

"Warbler Thad, what happened while we were gone?" Sebastian asks, narrowing his eyes at the boy, his glance flashing over to his girlfriend for only a second.

"I've got this, Thad. Sit down. You too, Nick," Santana says, smiling sweetly at the two boys. Sebastian discreetly winks at her, and she motions for the boys to get in position. "Well, since you two were out on business, I figured I'd give these boys a routine, since they keep begging me for one. Sadly, you two are the only ones who haven't had the honor of doing a Santana Lopez routine, but maybe this will make you want to. So enjoy. I recommend sitting over here."

With that, Santana struts over to a couch, and the two enraptured boys follow her. She snaps her fingers, and the boys start their song, a acapella version of Jason Derulo's _Ridin' Solo_.

They do an utterly fantastic job, and Santana constantly moves around them, judging and criticizing their performance. Hunter and Sebastian's jaws drop. The singing is great, and Nick does a perfect job on leads, but the standout is the dancing. Just easy enough for them not to run out of breath while singing, each chorus is in perfect synchrony, but the verses have the boys in different sections, each section in sync, each section taking turns, like a dance battle. Both Sebastian and Hunter are _extremely_ impressed, and both boys would love to do a Santana Lopez routine.

Before the last chorus, Santana goes over to Sebastian, and slyly steals his blazer. She pulls it on over her Cheerios uniform, and Hunter and Sebastian notice how great she looks in it. For the final chorus, Santana joins them, at the from of the formation, doing the routine perfectly with the boys.

When they freeze, both of them stand and applaud. Santana smirks, and dips an exaggerated bow while the other boys high five each other and take sips of water. Jeff goes over to Santana. Whispering in her ear, he says, "_Since you didn't get to dance much, why don't you perform while we take a break?_" Santana nods, and Jeff gives the other boys the signal to move the couches in a circle facing Santana. She nods at Cameron, and he plugs her phone into the speakers, playing a song. She recognizes the song immediately, and grins internally, already starting to twerk her body to the beat.

Sebastian also grins when he recognizes the song. _Crazy in Love_, by Beyonce and Jay-Z. Good song. Pretty appropriate. He watches along with the other boys as she sings along, moving her body smoothly and sexily to the rhythm. She imitates the moves from the music video for the first verse, then moves to her own dance moves.

As she performs, Santana catches Sebastian's eye when she can, flashing him little gestures that only he'll catch, letting him know that she's singing to him. When she finishes, only slightly out of breath, everyone cheers, and she flops onto a couch, coincidentally (maybe) next to Sebastian. He secretly takes her hand and squeezes it, then stands and tells the Warblers to reset up the room, and they go over a few other things to prepare for Regionals.

Afterwards, Santana hugs Jeff, Nick, Thad, and Hunter goodbye before leaving with Sebastian. Hunter frowns.

"Hey. Wait. Are you two leaving together?" Santana nods.

"Yup. Feivel here is my neighbor, unfortunately," she says, grinning. Sebastian rolls his eyes, but smiles as they wave to the Warblers and head out into the hall. Sebastian takes Santana on a detour, and they find themselves in the same room where they sang _Smooth Criminal_. Santana rolls her eyes at Sebastian, but he sees the smile tugging at her lips so he flashes his most confident smile as he leads her over to their wall. The same one where this whole thing started.

Sebastian leans casually against the wall, and Santana grins. Eyes darkening, Sebastian takes one of Santana's hands in his, and places the other on the small of her back, using it to pull her against him. Unclasping his hand from hers, he then moves it to the back of her neck, pulling her forwards, capturing her lips with his.

After a few minutes of this, Santana pulls away. "Let's go, Bas. We really don't need Niff walking in on us. Plus, your house is probably empty." Sebastian grins wolfishly, and follows her out to the parking lot.

A week later, and it's time for Regionals. The New Directions, the Warblers, and the Golden Goblets from Our Lady of Perpetual Sorrow have gathered in the concert hall, and are all buzzing around nervously backstage. In their green room, the New Directions are scrambling around; Mr. Schue is checking all the boys' ties; Rachel is making sure everyone knows their parts, and helping (read: forcing) people to do vocal warm-ups; Mike, Brittany, and Santana are making everyone run through the different dance numbers as much as possible; Quinn is going around checking all the girls' dresses.

In the chaos, Santana slips out of the room, and turns a corner, hoping to find the Warblers, but instead plows straight into Sebastian. He catches her before she can fall, and she smiles at him. "Hey, Seb. I just wanted to tell you guys good luck. You'll do great out there." He grins.

"Same to you. I'm sure you whipped them all into shape for the dancing, which is bound to outshine ours."

"Nah, I'm sure Jeff and David did a great job."

"Not as good as you."

"We'll see. Good luck, Bastian."

"You too, babe. See you afterwards?" Santana shakes her head sadly.

"No. Hobbit's throwing an afterparty, win or lose. But definitely tomorrow. And if I can escape early, then yes." Sebastian hugs her tightly.

"Don't give up your friends for me, Tana." Santana smiles.

"Don't worry. I won't give up my friends for you, like I won't give up you for my friends." Sebastian nods, presses a kiss to her forehead, and whispers against her skin,

"I love you, San." Santana looks up immediately, needing to be sure of what she just thought she heard. When she meets Sebastian's eyes, all she sees is love, and she smiles.

"I love you too, Bastian." His eyes sparkle as he checks her face for confirmation, and she nods slightly. He can't help it, he pulls her against him and kisses her fiercely. She winds her arms around his neck, and they are both extremely thankful for these few minutes to themselves. When they separate, Sebastian waves as they head back to their respective teams. But, what they didn't know was that a dark figure was watching them from a shadowy corner.

As she walked slowly through the halls of the building, Santana feels lighter than air. They said it. They loved each other. She was sure of it. She is now so ready to _kill_ Regionals.

When Santana made it back to the green room, everyone was just beginning to calm down, so Santana sat down on a sofa next to Brittany. Puck came over from somewhere, and took the free seat in between Santana and Quinn. Puck turns to Santana.

"Hey, San, where'd you sneak off too? I was looking for you." Santana shrugs nonchalantly, and Puck stands up. "Hey guys!" Everyone stops and looks at Puck. Santana watches her best friend, confused. "Guys," Puck says slowly. "It's already done. Our mission is complete." Everyone gets it, except for Santana. Brittany's eyes widen, and Quinn grins. Puck turns to Santana. "San, I followed you. Why didn't you tell us that you and Sebastian Smythe are dating?"

Santana sucks in a sharp breath. Oh no. Was Puck watching her? He must have. Damn, now everyone knows! But why aren't they screaming at her? Brittany sees the confusion and fear in her best friend's eyes, and immediately knows that they were intentionally keeping it a secret, so they wouldn't have to face their glee clubs.

"Oh, San!" Brittany says, hugging the nervous girl. "We're all so happy for you! We all wanted to get you two together! The penguins are in too, and we tried to set you up, but you guys kept ignoring it! Congrats Sanny!" Brittany shouts. Everyone else cheers, and Santana immediately relaxes, hugging Brittany tightly. Puck and Quinn join them, until it turns to a group hug with all of the New Directions, and Santana makes her way out of the fray.

"Now let's go kick some Warbler ass!" Everyone cheers, and they do their New Directions cheer before going out to the audience seat, where the Warblers are up first. The New Directions take their assigned seats, Santana in between Puck and Mike, who wanted to talk with Santana about choreography. For their first song, the Warblers perform a great cover of _Stand_, by Lenny Kravitz. Their second song is _Glad You Came_, by the Wanted, one of Santana's favorite songs. She knows that Sebastian picked this song for her, as alluded to by the smile he sent her way at the start of the song. The first two songs had good choreography, not too over-the-top and daring, but they weren't just swaying the whole time. The last song, though, was _Treasure_, by Bruno Mars, and it was much more choreographed than the first.

They do a lot of stuff in sync, and Santana immediately recognizes Jeff's work. Her cousin does love to dance, almost as much as she does. When the finish, everyone's on their feet, applauding, even the other choirs. Santana slips out of her seat, and heads backstage. She sees Sebastian, and he hugs her tightly, kissing her lightly on the lips.

"Congrats, Seb. You guys were amazing!" Santana whispers against his lips. He smiles and pulls away slightly so he can see her face.

"Thanks. I'm sure you guys will be amazing. May the best team win," Sebastian replies, grinning.

"Oh, we will," Santana quips, smirking as he pulls her in for another kiss before she runs off to find her team.

The New Directions take their positions, and their first song starts. It's a intricately crafted mash up between R. Kelly's _I Believe I Can Fly_, and _Fly_, by Nicki Minaj and Rihanna. Rachel starts them off, with Santana harmonizing, her voice standing out from Rachel's, which Sebastian appreciates. He grins when Santana steps forwards for the lead on some of the rapping part, then hands it off to Blaine before joining up with Rachel on the _Fly_ chorus. The choreography is fairly simple, a fair few bits of partner dancing, but it's elegant, and fun to watch.

Santana wishes she could have done some harder and more intricate and impressive choreography, but not everyone was able to do it, only Mike, Santana, Brittany, Mercedes, Sam, and Puck were able to, so they had to go with something simpler. It still was really fun to create, and it looks really good.

The boys plus Rachel, Tina, and Quinn go offstage, and the Troubletones backup dancers go on. Santana was happy that she could do fancier dancing for this one, since most of the backup are Cheerios. They sing Kelly Clarkson's _Stronger_, Santana and Mercedes mostly, but Brittany too alternating lead. When Santana sings the first verse, she scans the audience for Sebastian. His blazer is very distinctive, and when she finds him, he gives her a huge smile, making her grin.

At the end of their song, everyone's on their feet. Santana looks to the audience for Sebastian again, but he's gone. Santana does think she knows where he went, though. Everyone clears off for Rachel's ballad, with backup from Tina and Brittany. As she watches from the wings, she feels a pair of arms loop around her shoulders. She smiles.

"Hey, Bas. What'd you think?"

"I think . . . that you guys deserve to win this thing. Especially after I was such an ass to y'all." Santana nods, turning to kiss him lightly.

"Good answer." then, she shoos him away, because all the other girls join Rachel onstage, and all the boys harmonize from the upper balconies. Santana sees Sebastian in the audience once more, and he gives her a soft smile as Rachel sings, and she knows he means the words to her.

The finish, the crowd goes wild as they all dip graceful curtsies and the curtains close. Backstage, Quinn, Brittany and Santana share a group hug, all breathing heavily, everyone still high on adrenaline. All the other choirs move to their green rooms, waiting for the judges' decision, but the New Directions invite the Warblers to join them. They happily agree, and all the teens collapse on the couches, Santana snuggled next to Sebastian, with Niff on her other side.

Soon, they're called back, and everyone is nervous and tense. Santana holds Puck and Brittany's hands as they wait for the judges to announce the results. They breathe a sigh of relief when the Golden Goblets are given third place. Down to the New Directions v.s the Warblers.

"And the winner of the midwest Regional show choir championship is . . ."

_Just tell us! _Santana's mind is screaming. She tightens her hold on Puck's hand, and he squeezes hers reassuringly.

"The New Directions!"

The New Directions jump and cheer in excitement as Rachel receives the trophy from the head creepy vampire judge. Sebastian gets the second-place trophy, and the Warblers cheer, for themselves, and in congratulations of their friends, the New Directions. They've managed to become friends, after all of that.

They all hug, and move offstage, the New Directions change into street clothes before they all meet back in the green room. Sebastian kisses Santana passionately, and everyone catcalls. Sebastian and Santana simultaneously flip them off, making everyone laugh. There couldn't be two people more perfect for each other.

THE END

**A/N: Whew! That's done. I hope it didn't end too suddenly. I just love this ship, and all the possibilities it has. It's really fun to write for these guys. Please comment if it was any good, I can never tell. Also, tell me if you want another long fic or a selection of one-shots! Thank y'all for sticking with me! Bye! - Spicy Scarlet**


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